Conflicted Contradiction
by svetl
Summary: She's a paradox. She wants to be happy but she ponders on things that makes her sad. She says doesn't like herself yet she loves the person that she is. She says she doesn't care but she does. She craves attention but rejects it when it gravitates her way. She's a conflicted contradiction and maybe that's what drew him in. (Might come across a little harem-ish)
1. Chapter 1

She remembers their first encounter vividly as if it was just yesterday. Their meeting, if you can even call it that, was uneventful, belying everything that was going to happen.

She'd just transferred from another prefecture to Kaijo High School. She'd ended up becoming Kaijo High's Basketball Club manager through a series of uninteresting events. And to get acquaintedwith her team mates, she was on her way to dinner with the lot of them after a particularly grueling session of practice. They were all talking amongst themselves -when suddenly a hushed, tensed filled silence fell upon them. Curious to see the cause of it, she peeked out from behind Kasamatsu-senpai's back only to see him. Imposingly tall and tanned, with dark navy hair cropped short and a perma frown on his face. There was something about him that piqued her interest although try as she may she can't seem to figure out what it was. She assessed him as he spoke to Kise-kun while the rest of the team looked on. She noticed the lilt on the corner of his lips when he gave a particularly cocky smile, or the way he drawled whenever he speaks. She would soon, rather than later, learn that he is the notorious ace of the infamous Generations of Miracle, Aomine Daiki.

Their second encounter was a little more eventful. She was on her way back from yet another practice that had gone way overtime. Kise Ryouta had offered to walk her home seeing as it was already dark out but she declined his offer because his house is in the opposite direction of hers. After repeatedly reassuring the members of Kaijo High Basketball Club that she would be fine, she was finally on her way.

She was 2 blocks away from her house when she spotted him outside a convenience store. She opened her mouth, ready to greet him. Which was silly considering he had no idea who she was and whatever she did know of him was all second hand information told to her by Kise.

_Ah_, she cursed inwardly, _girls and their silly hormones._ She'd only seen him once and she'd found him irresistibly attractive. She had deliberated whether she should say something to him. The thing about her is that she's incredibly assertive and a go-getter, not afraid to speak her mind and to do as she pleases. That would probably explain her lack of friends.

"Oi... What are you looking at?"

She snapped out of her reverie. Thank God she's not your average shy, introverted, bumbling idiot of a high school girl. If anything, she could hold her own.

"You."

He tilted his head to the left, his frown deepening infinitesimally, "What?"

"You. I was obviously looking at you."

"Tch... Well, stop looking. There's nothing to look at here." He was obviously surprised by her boldness.

"On the contrary, I think there's plenty to look at.", she said suggestively, trying to stifle the laughter she can feel bubbling up. _Let's see how he handles this one_, she thought to herself.

She squinted, analyzing him. He seemed to have just came out from the convenience store judging by the plastic bag he carried in his right hand and the magazine he was holding in his left. Magazine that has... She squinted again, to make sure she was seeing it right. Yup, it was an R- rated magazines. That was it, she bursted out laughing. Her bold comments coupled with the fact that he was shamelessly holding a R-rated magazine broke the dam.

He looked at her like she'd gone crazy and he was not shy about telling her so. "Whatever. How troublesome." He turned around ready to walk away.

"Oi! I'm not done with you. Stop walking away when I'm talking to-"

He smirked and said insouciantly,"Try and stop me."

_Oh, he's really done it this time. Challenge accepted_, she thought to herself.

_Thud!_ The shoe she the threw bounced of the back of Aomine's head.

"You little shrimp... ", Aomine said with a growl, advancing towards her menacingly.

"I won."

"What?", he asked, steps halted, momentarily confused.

"Stopped you from walking away didn't I?", she smiled before continuing, "Anyway, Aomine-san, let's be friends. My name is Ana."

"Hah!? Who would wanna be friends with a troublesome brat like you", he paused mid rant to look her up and down before continuing, "Besides, your bust are not up to my standards." He lifted both his hands and made this lewd squeezing gestures.

He fully expected her to get enraged by his indecent comment like every other girl would and hopefully she would then stop pestering him. But all she did was laugh again. Maybe that was why he didn't just turn around and walk away immediately. There was something compelling about her infuriatingly audacious behavior that kept him rooted there.

"First of all, being friends has nothing to do with my bust size. Secondly, it's a given that my bust is nowhere near the size of the model of the magazine you're holding but there is no way you can guess my bust size under all this baggy clothing I'm wearing and it might just surprise you, A-o-m-i-n-e-san," she countered easily.

He felt the corners of his lip twitched a little before he squashed the urge to laugh down. "How do you know my name anyway."

"Heh... I have my ways. Anyway, I've gotta go. I'll see you around, Aomine Daiki," she smiled and gave a little wave before skipping off.

_What a strange girl_, he shook his head, making his own way home as well._ Let's hope I don't bump into that troublesome little brat again._ That was what he thought eventhough unknowingly he has got just tiniest smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Days seemed to passed by fairly quickly in a blur of classes and basketball practices. During this time, she had more or less gotten closer to her team mates, notably Kise Ryouta and Moriyama Yoshitaka.

The former because of his animated disposition, even though she could tell beneath all the blinding smiles and good looks there's a little something more than meets the eyes. And in a way, he reminds her of the sun, all golden and light.

The latter because there's just something innately funny about how he looks so serious but when he starts talking about girls it never failed to make her laugh. And she likes people who can make her laugh because there's nothing better than the aching feeling in your abdominals and wiping the tears from your eyes after a really good laugh.

That afternoon, she was walking with Kise, Moriyama-senpai and Kasamatsu-senpai, ambling along the side walk towards the cafe that was their destination. Earlier in the day, Moriyama-senpai had casually suggested that they all should hang out at a cafe where there would be a lot of girls. The way he had asked left no room for arguments.

"Kamiya, since you are part of the baffling species that are female... Tell me, why is it that none seemed to be attracted to me?," Moriyama-senpai asked albeit not very seriously.

"Oh, but senpai I am attracted to you," Ana deadpanned.

All three males ceased movement immediately and a chorus of loud _EHHH!_ followed right after.

"Hahaha... Guys, calm down! It was a joke," she clutched her stomach laughing at her teammates' reactions. Kise spluttering, Kasamatsu-senpai's red face and Moriyama-senpai seemed like he's been turned into stones.

"Good thing you're joking because if not then I would have to reject you," Moriyama said.

She huffed, offended," And that is why you are still alone."

Kise slung an arm around her shoulder casually,"It's okay, Ana, I would go out with you... And I'm sure Kasamatsu-senpai would too, if he can actually overcome his fear of women."

She shot a look at Kise, a smirk forming on her face. An unsaid understanding passed between them, this was a good chance to yank on their captain's chains.

She turned around and flung her arms around Kasamatsu's waist. Speaking in a high pitch tone, she said,"Why, senpai, would you really go out with me? Would you?"

Almost immediately Kasamatsu-senpai turned red and started stammering, trying to get away from her.

Before Kasamatsu-senpai could reply, a voice interjected," Oi, brat, do you go around terrorizing everyone you meet?"

"Aomine-cchi!", Kise said.

"Yo, Kise! What are you doing hanging around crazy people anyway", Aomine asked, a mock grin on his face.

Ana was determined to ignore his remarks, she knew he was baiting her and she refused to bite. She adjusted her skirt in her seat and tried starting a conversation with Moriyama-senpai.

"Oi, brat."

_Ignore_.

"Shrimp. I'm talking to you."

_Ignore, again. _

"Err... I think Aomine-cchi is trying to talk you." Kise nudged her.

"Oh, but is there anyone else here other than the 4 of us."

"Crazy girl that threw a shoe at my head."

_Ignore_.

She felt a soft _thud_ on her head before she saw a balled up piece of paper in front if her.

Finally, she looked at him," I have a name. Use it.", she said pointedly before turning away.

"Alright, alright. Aya. Happy now?" he said, the corners of his lips twitching.

She could feel the vein throbbing on her forehead. "Why, you little!" She huffed, she just knew he'd purposely gotten her name wrong. Irritated that he'd successfully gotten a rise out of her, she opened her mouth to make some scathing remarks but was stopped at the sight in front of her.

Aomine was laughing. Like, proper laughing and it wasn't smirking neither was it a mocking grin. He looked exactly like a little kid with his head thrown back, laughing. And for some - not unknown, because clearly she's not vapid - reason, she found herself less irritated... which sort of irritated her. _Does that even make sense_, she thought to herself.

"Eh, how do you know Aomine-cchi.", Kise asked.

"Ah, I met him on the way back from school like 2 weeks ago? Thought I'll check out the competition."

At this Aomine had turned back to his table and was talking to his companion. A pink hair girl with a rather large asset, Ana noted.

Lowering her voice, she asked Kise," That is his girlfriend?"

"Sa-cchi? No, no, that's our middle school basketball club manager and his childhood friend," Kise said, letting his statement settle before continuing," His girlfriend is not here today."

Oh. A girlfriend. That little bit of information definitely chafed at her. Not that she like _like_ him or anything. She doesn't even know him. Just very slightly disappointed that someone that attractive, she grudgingly admit, is taken. Oh, well, she's sure he's got a rotten personality anyway.

"Ana~ don't tell me you've got a crush-" Kise started, before Ana clamped her hands around his mouth.

"Oh,my gosh, Kise! Discreet much? And no, I do not have a crush. I just thought he was, you know, okay looking.", she hissed through clenched teeth.

Moving to remove her hands from his mouth, Kise said with that blinding smile so she can't tell if he was teasing or what," Well, good. Cause if you did, I might just get jealous."

**A/N** : Thank you to those of you that followed/favourited/reviewed. I hope you enjoy the story and forgive the mistakes peppering the story. xxx


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: The story might be progressing a little slowly while I'm trying to build the foundation for the story. I hope you guys will bear with me. And guys, if possible please review, it really motivates me to continue writing this :) As usual, thanks for following/favoriting/reviewing and forgive all the mistakes that's peppering this story. Enjoy!

**Note**: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke. I just realize I should have put this up in the earlier 2 chapters!

* * *

The weeks leading up to the Interhigh was filled with practices even more intense than usual. Jokes were sparse and very few in between, even Moriyama has stopped talking about girls for the meanwhile, each of the players all training ardently and Ana does her best in supporting them. Refilling the drinks before they ran out, making sure clean towels were always available, making sure all the equipments were in good conditions etcetera etcetera. Truth be told, she was getting a little antsy and can't wait for Interhigh to arrive so that everyone can snap out of this seriousness. Being dedicated to practice is one thing but this lot is taking practice to a whole new level and all work and no play makes everyone dull. And you could see all the seriousness and pent up tension is grating on the boys' nerves, most of them were so tensed that they were practically humming with energy, looking as if the slightest thing is going to make them snap.

What everyone needed was a day off, she thought to herself, perhaps a cookout at the beach, seeing as it's summer and all. But she can't just suggest this outright. Knowing this bunch of basketball idiots, they would be appalled that she would even dare suggest that they take a day off with the Interhigh being so close. No, to execute this plan, a little finesse is needed. She's going to divide and conquer. And she's going to start with the weakest link, the Achilles heel of the group, if you will. She mentally gave herself a pat on the back for the good idea.

It was after practice in the evening that she made her way closer towards... Moriyama-senpai. She made sure that she was in his line of sight, and then pretended to pace up and down with a frown on her face.

"Kamiya, stop pacing around like that. You're giving me a headache. What's wrong?" he asked.

_Hook, line, sinker. _

She smirked inwardly, still keeping up her distressed act,"Ah, you see Moriyama-senpai, a group of my friends from middle school asked me out this weekend for a cookout at the beach and they wanted me to introduce some of my guy friends to them."

"So. What's the problem exactly?", Moriyama-senpai asked, unaware that she's slowly reeling him in.

"My only guy friends are you lot from the basketball team... And don't you guys have practice on Saturday? It's too bad though, it would be nice if you guys took a break and come." She paused before adding in for good measure,"And to think Kyoko-chan and Minami-chan had just gotten new bikinis as well."

She could practically see the imagery running around in Moriyama-senpai's head.

He cleared his throat,"W-well... I would not be adverse to going b-but it's really up to Kasamatsu."

"Oh... So if I somehow manage to convince Kasamatsu-senpai, you would have no objections in going?"

"I guess not... But eventhough it's up to Kasamatsu, we don't know if the rest would agree. It's better to convince the rest first and then only to speak to Kasamatsu. He can hardly say no if everyone has already agreed."

And there you go, she laughed gleefully to herself, with a few prods here and there, she's gotten Moriyama-senpai to spill on the game plan.

Once she got Moriyama-senpai to agree, the rest had been relatively easy. Kobori-senpai has always been quiet, calm and seemed to always go with the flow. All she did was exaggerated the number of people that agreed to the day off and he had agreed instantly. Hayakawa with all his fiery enthusiasm was easy to handle as well.

All that's left now is to speak to Kise. Which might prove to be a little harder than she thought. Ever since that afternoon at the cafe, things had been just a little different. Initially, she'd brushed off his "jealous" comment and choose to ignore the underlying meaning it might carry with it. She'd waited for him to laugh and say he was kidding or something but he had just remained silent and looked at her for a few moments before looking away. Ever since then, even though they still kept up with their camaraderie, there was this underlying tension charged with electricity between them.

Yes, she knew what those 'tensions' are and yes, she finds him too attractive for his own good but in the months that she has known him, they really had gotten quite close. He was almost like a best friend of sorts. Not many people know this, but she's prone to really heavy mood-swings. Almost bipolar, really. And when she's in the pits, almost nothing could pull her out of it, and it could go on for weeks before she snaps out of it. But with Kise, she realized, he pulled her out of the darkness with such ease. He was like the sun made flesh, a ray of light in a world of grey and darkness, cliche as it may sound. And that is the reason why she really doesn't want to disturb the status quo.

She knew that if she asked him about the day off he would undoubtedly say yes. He's quite indulgent towards her. It was just that she felt a little iffy, as if she's using his, errr, slight affections for her against him.

She heaved a sigh, what has to be done, must be done.

It's done. After getting everyone's approval, she'd approached Kasamatsu-senpai and between everyone's unanimous approval and him still being a little too shy when it comes to the opposite sex, victory was in her hands.

Game, set and match to Kamiya Ana.


	4. Chapter 4

Still riding the high on her victory, she has been making plans and listing the things she would need to buy and the games they could possibly play. She was so engrossed in her thoughts, so much so that as she was walking, one of the most cliched shoujo manga scenario happened to her, she walked right into Aomine. Her nose was still smarting from it's meeting with his incredibly hard chest, and she was still on the ground from the recoil of the bump.

"Jerk. That hurt." She pouted, getting up from the ground.

"You walked into me. Apologize," he demanded.

Still rubbing her nose, a little sniffle could be heard. Big hazel eyes suddenly teary, looked at him,"It hurts, jackass. I'm sorry. Happy?"

"O-oi... W-what the hell are you crying for? If you think I'm going to-" he paused,"Eh, did you just apologize? Heh!" he smirked, looking not unlike the cat that ate the canary.

She wasn't going to dignify his comment with a response, so she squared her shoulders, ready to walk away with her nose up in the air. And she felt him grabbed her arms and turning her around to face him.

"Tch... You're bleeding on your left knee, idiot," he said grudgingly.

"Is that the way to treat someone who is injured?", she asked indignantly.

"Look where you're walking next time. How troublesome." Despite his words, he still knelt down to look at her knees. "Well, congratulations, you're not gonna die!"

She tried. She really did. She tried biting on her cheeks but she can't stop the laughter that was threatening to spill out. And 3, 2, 1, out it came. She was laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation and his smart aleck comments that were, to be honest, not that funny.

"Oi, Aya, did you knock your head as well?"

_Snort_.

Muffled laughter.

"Ana. It's Ana. Stop trying to irritate me. By the way, I know I introduced myself as Ana but from now on, it's Kamiya-san to you,"

"Whatever you say, A-y-a~" he said childishly.

Oh, God, she could feel her stomach flipping.

_Stomach, cease thy lustful quake_, she thought to herself unhappily.

He sounded positively hot when he drawled out her name. Okay, not her name exactly but all the same. From what she's heard and seen with her own eyes, he's quite the A-class jerk, all arrogant and cocky and it's really unfair that he's so hot. And that childishness... How is it that he can make childishness look so adorable. It's making her head ache vacillating between hot and adorable. Hot and adorable. Hot and adora-

"Hey, you ok... You're kinda creeping me out with all your staring and smiling to yourself", he said, waving a hand in front of her face.

She pushed his hand away. "Yeah, yeah, whatever", she said half heartedly.

She didn't anticipate him putting his hand on her head and ruffling it.

"You're kinda okay, Aya. A bit vicious and annoying but alright. Kinda like a honey badger."

She froze, as if electrified by the fleeting touch on her head. It started at the pit of her stomach and warmed her chest until she could practically feel _every_ nerve ending in her body and all she wanted was for him to touch her skin. Eyes wide, lips parted, she looked up at him. She could see him opening his mouth to say something idiotic again, no doubt but she could see the sudden shift in his eyes and body language. There they stood, the both of them, under one lonesome street lamp, staring and unconsciously inching closer and closer to each other.

In moments like that, people always claimed that thoughts completely flew out of their heads. It was the complete opposite for her, she could feel all her thoughts running at one hundred miles per minute. She's been kissed before. She's not one of those shy, virgin type that's so typical of a shoujo manga heroine. She's also not under any delusions that it was love. It was pure attraction. All these thoughts were running through her mind, as their faces inched closer still until one thought brought everything to a screeching halt.

Girlfriend.

He has a girlfriend. She will not be one of those girls that knowingly kiss another girl's boyfriend. Oh, God, she prayed for the will to pull away. But as if summoned by the thought of his girlfriend or God answering her prayers, his phone started ringing, and Ana just knew it was his girlfriend. They jerked away from each other so fast it's amazing there wasn't whiplash.

That was embarrassing. And disappointing. And good. It's good that the phone rang when it did, or else she'll be caught up in a drama she wanted nothing to do with. She could hear him speaking on the phone, voice all low but with a hint of tenderness. Which is surprising, you wouldn't think it by looking at his appearance and the general way he treats everyone.

She sighed. Better make a move before he gets off the phone or else it'll be awkward and she wouldn't know what to say. She lifted up her hands, gesturing wildly at him trying to get his attention. When he finally looked up, she smiled goofily, hoping against hope to cover any awkwardness, and gestured that she was leaving first. She could see he was gonna contradict her and then as if he thought better of it, nodding and giving her a wave.

She fervently hoped, if and when they do cross each other's path, all this would be forgotten and not spoken of again. Ever.

* * *

He felt like a cretin. What did he think he was doing. That was dangerously close to cheating on his girlfriend. He must've ate something wrong or not feeling well. That was really bad judgment on his parts and he could've been screwed six ways to Sunday. Does it still count as cheating if he really _really_ wanted to kiss Ana even though he didn't? He blamed her for it really. First for staring at him in the beginning and smiling to herself. That smile. And that eyes. With the expression. Oh, God, he's turning sappy. He gave himself a light slap on the face.

_Snap out of it._

And then, really, did she have to for the second time stare at him again, looking all wide-eyed, with her lips parted. If that's not an invitation to ravish her lips, then he don't know what is. And she was funny as well. Annoying, yes, but still funny. And weird _and_ a little bit crazy _and_ laughed at things for no apparent reason. And apparently not scared of him like most girls are. Oh, God, he's attracted to a crazy, senseless brat whom the few times they met, had incessantly tried to pick a fight with him.

_Stop_, he told himself. He loved his girlfriend as much a teenage boy can love someone. He should count his lucky stars nothing happened. Even though he wasn't too sure about her leaving so fast.

_Arghhh_.

He knew that little brat was trouble the moment he laid eyes on her. Trying to shake all thoughts of previous happening, he decided to head towards the park to shoot some hoops.


	5. Chapter 5

Saturday came in a blink of an eye. It's been 3 days since her encounter with Aomine. Needless to say, she has been pushing the thought of that almost kiss out of her mind. It wasn't hard to do with all the practices going on. She woke up really early, everyone was supposed to meet at the station at 10 and head to the beach together. Realizing that it was already 9.30, she quickly packed her stuff and rushed out of the house. Exiting her house, she saw Kise standing outside the gate, with his phone midway raised to his ears, which he immediately put down as soon as he saw her.

"Hey, is everything ok? What are you doing here?" she asked, assuming something went wrong.

"I was just about to call you. Decided to drop by, so we can walk to the station together..." he said, gauging her reaction before continuing,"I mean, if that's alright with you."

"Oh, yeah, sure, I was just leaving", she said gesturing to the closed door as they made their way together.

"So I gathered you're the mastermind behind this whole day off by the beach thing? None of the basketball idiots would ever think of a day off."

"I have no knowledge of what you're talking about," she feigned seriousness," Besides, who are you calling basketball idiots? You're one as well."

"That's mean, Ana," he whined.

"Doesn't make it any less true."

They were still walking down the streets, still empty this early on a weekend, before he broke their companionable silence.

"So what's up with you lately? Anything interesting?", he asked

And there _it_ was. Subconsciously, she's been waiting for him to ask this question. So she can finally tell him about what happened with Aomine. She needed to tell someone just to get it off her chest. It wasn't that big a deal so she should just casually say it to Kise.

"I almost kiss Aomine," she blurted out.

Kise's reactions were funny to say the least. His eyes bulged out, his face seemed to lost it's color momentarily before turning into a funny shade of blue and then red before loudly exclaiming,"What! Kiss what? Who? Aomine-cchi what?"

"Oh, hush. And I didn't kiss him. I said _almost_. Big difference."

He stopped abruptly, "Do you like him?", he asked with uncharacteristic seriousness.

"Ermm, not anymore than normal. I guess. I don't really know him to begin with. It's stupid. I just think he's ridiculously good looking. You know, teenage girl hormones running rampant and all," she said, trying to brush it off.

With his quick movement, somehow Kise has maneuvered her into a position where her back was against the side wall of some building, hands beside her head, caging her in.

"You said that you thought that I was ridiculously attractive too, right? So howcome, you never tried to 'almost kiss' me?" he asked, face still serious.

_Oh. My. God._ What is with this sudden development. Her heart is thumping in her chest, she was sure any minute now, it was gonna come bursting out of her chest.

"E-ehh... It-it wasn't like I was trying to purposely almost kiss him. And it just happened. C'mon, back up a little, what are you trying to do?" she asked, covering her nervousness with a laugh.

"I'm trying to make it happen as well."

_What._ Make _what_ happen again? She thought to herself, confused, before it dawned on her what it meant.

Oh.

_Oh._

Almost kiss.

He was trying to make _it_ happen.

Her.

And Kise.

It was a bad idea. Not wanting to shake up the status quo and all. But with his face so so close, she can't seemed to find her voice. Her heart was still thumping wildly. His face was so close now, she could feel his breath on her. If she was gonna stop this almost kiss, now would be a good time to say something. Except she can't seemed to make her vocal chords work. Plus, with the golden eyes staring at her so intensely, she didn't really want to say no.

"I c-can't. I love the way things are between us now. And I don't want to mess it up." Finally _finally_, she found her voice.

He rested his forehead on hers. "Just a kiss, Ana. We're not getting married. We're still gonna be friends", he said, persuasive.

She found herself slightly swayed by his argument. Not the first time she cursed her teenage hormones again.

"But..."

He cut her off,"Yes or no, Ana? If it's a no, we'll walk away from this, nothing will change."

_Bullshit_. Whether or not she kissed him, _everything_ has changed the moment he gave voice to the sexual tension that has been between them for quite a while now. There's no way to undo this. _Kiss_. _Don't kiss_. Things are already changing, for the better or worse, she still can't tell. And for that reason alone, she stood on her tippy toes, arms going around his neck, pulling him down, and closed the last few inches between their lips.

And she felt the world narrowed until it was just him and her. The skin of her arms against his neck, his hands around her waist, his lips against hers. His tongue on her lips, tentatively asking for entrance, his tongue sliding against hers, he tasted like peppermint and sunlight. She was all sensation. Blood was roaring in her ears. The hem of her top had risen a few inches, she could feel his thumbs rubbing circles on her hips. So good, she can't think outside of the kiss. It was soft, tender then hard and harder still until they both had to come up for air.

"Wow," she huffed, breath still ragged.

"Yeah." The tiniest smile on his face. And her heart sped up all over again.

_Rrringgggg!_

He straightened up, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

"Senpaiii... Yeah, yeah, we are on the way. Give us 15 minutes. We'll be there," he said into the phone.

Now that the post kiss haze has finally lifted a little, she could feel her nervousness coming back.

"Hey, I meant what I said. Nothing has changed. It doesn't have to if you don't want it too," he said, as if he could see the turmoil going on within her.

And that was it. With just a few words, he'd managed to put her at ease. Her golden boy. She really hoped that regardless of what happened, nothing too bad will happen. She treasured him too much to let a silly thing like a kiss to ruin things between them.

Standing on her tiptoe, she planted a chaste kiss on the corner of his lips, smiling,"Yeah... Let's go before Kasamatsu-senpai blow a gasket. You know that you'll end up bearing the brunt of his anger."

* * *

It was almost 11.30 by the time they all reached the beach. Picking a good spot somewhere not too far nor too close to the shores, she started spreading her towels and setting up the huge sun umbrella they had rented.

"Kamiya... Are we too early? And I thought we were late too?", Moriyama asked, perplexed.

Puzzled, she said no.

"Then, where's Kyoko-san and Minami-san. In fact, where are _all_ your friends?" he asked, looking a little suspicious now.

_Shit. _

"Uh... Minami-chan is down with a cold. And Kyoko-chan decided to stay in with her. Before you know it, everyone's decided to postpone the trip. Did I not told you this?" she made an impromptu excuse, smiling sheepishly.

Moriyama-senpai looked so downtrodden she felt a little guilty. "Hey, cheer up. I promise I'll introduce you to more girls soon! Besides, even though my friends are not here, take a look around you, there are plenty of girls here... in their bikinis", she said, giving him a thumbs up.

Seemingly mollified, he mumbled a yeah before strolling off.

The rest of the guys had meandered to a little sideways and she could see they were setting up a volley ball game. She took of her top, revealing a cute, simple black strapless bikini. Putting on her sunglasses, she proceeded to lie on the towel, using her bag as a head rest.

_Ahhh, this is truly the life. The sun, sea and good friends._ She felt a thump to the left of her and she turned lazily to look, Kise had taken up residence next to her, lying on his own towel.

"Not gonna join the guys?", she asked.

"Nope, it's our day off, if I'm gonna be playing something that has to do with ball, it might as well be basketball," he said and silence resumed.

He was lying really close to her, she was hyper aware of the proximity of his body and hers and she could just feel the electricity between them. She lifted up her sunglasses and turned to look at him to find him already looking at her. She held his gaze for what felt like ages before she felt a smile tugging on her lips.

"Stop looking", she chided teasingly, the smile still on her face.

"Why don't you stop looking first?", he countered.

"Fine. Looking away now," she said turning away. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kise turning away as well, with a small smile on his lips.

God, ever since the kiss, every single thing felt like a huge foreplay, just building up and up and up. You'd think after that kiss, all the sexual tension would be gone but it has just gotten worse. Every brush of skin, accidental or not, every remark, innocent or not, every stare, casual or not, was super charged with this intense feeling.

Again, he broke the silence first,"Wanna go for a swim?"

"Yeah. Let's," she agreed, getting up to step out of her shorts. "Race you there," she said before running to the shore.

She waded into the sea, swimming a little further out, he had no problem catching up with her. When he got close enough, he held her hand and started tugging her along.

"Where are we going?", she asked.

"You'll see," was all he said before pulling her along again, until they reached a semi shallow part of the sea behind a huge rock.

Before she could even begin to say anything, his lips was on her again. He lifted her up, and automatically her legs went around his waist, he backed her up against the stone, his back facing the open sea, as if protecting her from prying eyes. With the semi privacy given to her, she found her hands wandering and exploring his chest as they slowly trailed down to his abdomens. Oh, his abdomens, what a fine, fine abdomen. His hands were on either sides of her hips, rubbing circles slowly inching their way up the sides until the slowly rested at the side of her boobs.

The kiss which started off hard had started to grow soft and he was trailing soft kisses along her jaw and down her neckline to her collarbones. Her breathe was coming out a little laboured.

She put her hands on both side of his face and made him look at her,"S-stop...", voice a little breathless,"There are people approaching at the back..." His hands were still running up and down her sides even as he stopped kissing her.

She pulled away a little to regain her composure. "Is this where you bring all the girls to make out?" she teased.

He smiled that blindingly gorgeous smile,"Nope, only the ones that are special," he quipped.

"We can't keep doing this you know. We gotta draw the line somewhere," she said, somewhat pensively.

"Look, it's not a big deal until we make it a big deal. We're good friends who so happened to be attracted to each other. I care for you and you care for me. Is that a really bad idea?" he said.

"So what? We are like... kissing buddies?"

"Well... To just say _kissing_ would be putting a limit on things eh? Maybe we should just see how things go", he teased.

"Pervert. C'mon let's head back to the beach. We're bound to be missed," she said swimming away first with a blush on her face.

* * *

Aomine saw her first when he went out for a swim in the sea and he immediately turned the other way. Better to stay as far away as possible from that troublemaker. Especially now that he's here with his girlfriend and Satsuki. That was his first thought. And then he immediately turned to look back when his mind has finally processed what he was actually seeing.

_Kissing_. _Her_ AND, judging from that corn silk colored hair, _Kise_. They were really going at it. _Were they together_, he wondered. He quickly turned away after realizing he'd been staring way too long. So what if she was kissing Kise anyway. Good for her. It didn't bother him either way. It wasn't like he's in love with her or pining after her in any way. It wasn't like he spent the night after their encounter envisioning how her lips might have tasted or how soft it looked. He's got his own girlfriend. A girlfriend that he loves, he reminded himself. He shook his head, irritated and continue swimming in the opposite direction heading to the shore determined to go on with his day. He felt a little out of sorts, really and he wondered why and concluded it must have been the breakfast that Satsuki made them this morning. Satisfied with his own conclusion and feeling slightly better, he decided he'd enjoy his day.

* * *

** A/N**: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. In case any of you are wondering or is unhappy with the way Ana seems to be vacillating between the guys so easily, I feel the need to justify her behavior. First of all, she's in her teens and really, surrounded by so many guys are you really only gonna pick one of them when no romantic feelings are involved yet? She might come across as a little easy or promiscuous but I don't see it that way and I don't believe in slut shaming. It doesn't mean a person is slutty if they have multiple or a lot of partners. And I did say that this was gonna be a little harem-ish. Anyway, sorry for the long winded rant! Enjoy, read, review, follow, favourite! xxx


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko No Basuke !

* * *

The queue at the beach shack was long. She sighed, it was really hot, when she walked over to the only store on the beach she didn't expect the line to be so long. Kise had offered to come along but she could see that he wanted to join the rest of the guys in whatever new game they came up with so she waved him off. She stood in line, wiping the droplets of sweat off her face.

"So... What was that about? Since when is he so into public display of affection," Ana heard a voice from behind her said.

"I have no idea, ask him. You know how he is, constantly running hot and cold. I guess he's running hot now," another lower pitch female voice replied dryly.

Ana shifted slightly so she could look at the speakers, attention slightly piqued. From the corner of her eyes she could make out two girls, one with pink hair and a voluptuous body, Ana thought she looked familiar but didn't put much thought into placing her face because her attention was on the other girl. The other girl was beautiful, her face was exotic looking, huge, green eyes with golden flecks framed with thick and long lashes. Long, caramel brown hair that looked artfully tousled, a pair of pouty lips, golden skin with legs that goes on for miles and miles and a body that could rival a Victoria's Secret's model.

_Someone won the genes lottery_, she thought to herself, half envious and half in admiration.

"Maybe he's just getting possessive because of that senior that you're constantly hanging out with?", Pink haired girl said.

"He knows that me and Kou are just really good friends," the other girl replied.

Ana was, there's no way to put it nicely, eavesdropping. It was an interesting conversation. She'd never really had much girl friends to begin with and she was somewhat fascinated by the girl talk going on. Since the two girls weren't exactly keeping their voices low, she justified that it means they weren't really concerned about other people listening in anyway.

"Oh, c'mon, I've known him all my life, he tries to act all blasé, but trust me, he's probably all jealous inside," Pink haired girl laughed.

"I don't know. I've given up trying to figure him out. Don't you know, I'm only dating him for his incredibly hot body?" the other girl replied jokingly.

"And here I thought you like me for my brilliant mind," a new voice added teasingly. A masculine voice. A very, very familiar masculine voice.

_Shit_.

Ana tensed, staring straight ahead.

_Shit, shit, shit. _

She knew that voice.

The other girl laughed and replied,"Oh, is that what you thought, Daiki?"

Logically, there's no reason for her to be so flustered anyway. It wasn't like she had done anything wrong. Ana managed to calm herself down with her mental reasoning. Still, she wasn't going to turn around and say hi. She was just gonna lay low and hope that she goes unnoticed. It was almost her turn anyway, 8 more people to go, she'll get her drinks and stealthily make her exit. Meanwhile, she'll be as unobtrusive as possible.

"Gross. Get a room you guys!", Ana heard Pink haired girl said. She could only guess at what's going on behind her. Ana would say it was morbid curiousity that made her shifted slightly to the side to take a look.

She could see Aomine bent towards his girlfriend, lips locked in a somewhat passionate kiss. Her arms were looped around his neck and his hands were on her hips. They made a beautiful couple, Aomine and his girlfriend, Ana thought objectively. She quickly turned to the front when Aomine pulled away from his girlfriend. Close call. If she'd been a second slower, he would have saw her the moment he lifted his head.

Ana wondered if she'd looked good when she stood next to Kise. Not like she and Kise were a couple, but she wondered what people thought when they see her and Kise together. Her own hair was a very dark shade of brown, almost black, her eyes were honey colored almost gold, she's got a pert button nose and bow shaped lips that were thicker on the bottom. Body wise, she thought her own her body was okay. Neither skinny nor fat. But she was short though, standing at only 159 cm tall. A fact that was made even more obvious since she hangs around basketball players. She snorted to herself when she thought about how even the prettiest girl would pale in comparison standing next to Kise. That boy is too pretty for his own good.

"Can I have 7 cans of Coke please?" It was finally her turn. She can't wait to make her escape after this. She hurriedly paid for the drinks and turned around to leave. But as luck would have it, in her haste to escape, she knocked into a guy that was loitering around the shop, sending the cans of drink flying on to the sand.

"Oh, sorry", she said quickly.

_Oh, God. _She fixed her gaze on the sand and started to collect the drinks, pretending not to see Aomine, whom she was convinced had already seen her with all the commotion she caused.

"Ana! What took you so long?"

She looked up, relief flooding through her entire body. Kise was walking towards her.

"There was a really long line. Help me pick some of the cans up,will you?" she said, flashing him a smile.

"Yeah, sure... Ehhh, Aominecchi!", Kise exclaimed.

Ana face palmed herself mentally. She collected the few remaining cans, and turned around with a smile fixed on her face.

"Oh, hey, fancy seeing you here", she said greeting Aomine.

"Yo, Kise", Aomine said by way of greeting. He looked at Ana and then gave her a curt nod before looking away.

What was _that_ about, Ana thought indignantly.

"Ki-chan! Are you here with your girlfriend? Is this your girlfriend?", Pink haired girl asked.

Before either she or Kise could reply, Pink haired girl turned to her. "Hie, I'm Momoi Satsuki! I'm Kise's friend from middle school."

"Ahhh. He's not my boyfriend. We're here with our schoolmates. I'm Kamiya Ana," Ana replied, flustered by Satsuki's assumptions, especially after what had happened between her and Kise.

"Momoicchi was the manager for our old basketball team. By the way, that's Aominecchi's girlfriend. Michibata Lena," Kise said.

Ana smiled and said hello. Lena was polite and friendly. In fact, all around everyone was friendly. Except for that idiot glaring to the side, and pointedly ignoring her. What the fuck was wrong with him anyway. _Jackass_, she thought to herself.

"Anyway, we better go. The rest would be wondering where we went. See you guys around," Kise said, excusing himself and Ana. After saying goodbye with promises to meet up, they quickly left.

* * *

"So weird," Satsuki said.

"What?" Lena asked, curious.

"Kamiya-san said they weren't dating. But this morning, I thought I saw them holding hands when I was on the way to the station," Satsuki said more to herself than anyone else.

"Hmmm. She's very pretty though. Even if they're holding hands, it doesn't really mean anything," Lena said in response.

Putting one hand around Lena's waist, Aomine huffed. "Why are we gossiping about Kise's love life anyway? Let's get back to the beach."

The trio made their way to their spot. The entire way there Aomine was majorly irritated, to say the least. He probably should not have acted so rude to Ana. He didn't know why, don't want to why, he was so rude to her anyway. It was best not to delve deeper into the reason why he was irritated at her anyway. That was a can of worms he had no intentions of opening. He felt before he saw Lena glanced at him and he gave her waist a squeeze before smirking at her. There was no reason to be so irritated. He had a beautiful girlfriend who is into him and he's the best when it comes to basketball. With that thought, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on top of his girlfriend's head.

* * *

This day really couldn't get any worse. She thought the worse was over. It was almost 5 in the evening, and they were all getting ready to leave so she thought she'd run to the washroom first seeing as the washroom was located quite a distance from where they were. She wouldn't have gone if she knew then what she knew now.

"I guess it's true when they say you'll always end up running into the people you least wanted to see," she said sulkily.

Silence.

"Are you ignoring me? Stop acting like a petulant little boy" she said, affronted.

Silence yet again.

He continued leaning against the wall, and pointedly look elsewhere. She felt her eyebrows twitched, as she stormed up to him. In hindsight, she probably should have just left it at that and walked away but what she did instead was walked up to him and grabbed his face since he was ignoring her and refused to even look at her. She didn't think anything of what her actions might implicate. She saw his eyes widened a fraction.

"It's really rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you. Especially when they've done nothing wrong!" she said, hands still holding onto his face. "I know we're not like friends or anything, but seriously, stop acting like a-"

"Shut up," he cut her off mid sentence, his voice low and tensed.

"What is wrong with y-"

She was cut off midway when he kissed her.

* * *

He really didn't meant for this to happen really. He was outside the washroom, checking his phone when he saw her. Again. And it really irked him, her being there in her tiny shorts and oversized tank top with her bikini peeking through from underneath. So even though he knew he was being immature, he ignored her again when she spoke to him. He didn't take into consideration that it might have angered her so much that she'd be driven to confront him. And therein lies the problem, he could've handled her screaming at him, or even hitting him. What totally caught him of guard was the look in her eyes when she grabbed his face. There was annoyance and anger but what he didn't expect was hurt. Like she said, they weren't friends, not really, why the hell would she feel hurt if he ignored her. But _that_, that was his undoing. He saw the teensiest hint of hurt in her eyes and he lost all control of his actions. Before he even had time to process his thoughts, he was already kissing her. It was soft and tentative. It wasn't at all like how he'd imagine he'd kiss her. He had always thought, since that almost kiss, it would be hard and hot and passionate. He pulled back, to look her in the eyes, before kissing her again tentatively. She was strangely silent. He pulled back and rested his forehead on hers, eyes closed. The numbers of things he'd just screwed up whirling in his mind.

"I'm sorry," he said before pulling himself away from her.

* * *

"I'm sorry," she heard him said when she broke out of her stupor.

"_That_, was a real dick move," she gritted out, voice unnaturally low.

"I know. I'm sorry," he said quietly.

It could've been the resigned way he said it, which was so unlike him that it softened her up. "Look, that was a shitty thing to do to your girlfriend. Let's just chalked up what happened as momentary lapse in judgment on both our part."

He let out a long sigh. "I don't..." He started then seemed to change his mind before continuing,"You looked upset and I wasn't thinking." He looked down, one hand rubbing the back of his neck.

He looked so unnaturally subdued that it kind of freaked her out a little. It was very out of his character. She very much wanted him to just return to the cocky person he was before so she thought she'd insult him.

"Of course you weren't thinking. I didn't know you could even think," she said lightly, sticking her tongue out at him.

He frowned,"You little brat... I'm going to strangle you to death," he threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, get in line, Ahomine. Anyway, everything is cool. So stop saying sorry. Not your fault anyway, I'm just too irresistible," she said, jokingly trying to make light of the situation.

He looked aghast before he laughed and chucked her once on her head. "Yeah, if this were to go on trial, I would totally plead insanity. Because nobody in their sane mind would find you irresistible," he countered.

She laughed, somehow glad that at least they managed to deal with happened with minimal damage and with things almost returning to normal. At least they're back on comfortable grounds when they're insulting each other.

"Anyway, I better go. Kise would probably send out a search party if I took any longer," she said turning to go.

"Yeah. Hey, friends?" He said gruffly, looking at the ground, one hand scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, friends," she said with a small smile.

And then she turned around and walked back to the beach. She didn't look back. Not even once. Despite the fast pounding of her heart, the tingling feeling left on her lips and the tight feeling in her chest when she recalled how tentatively and tenderly he had kissed her as if he was kissing the hurt away or the look on his face the moment before he kissed her. No, it wouldn't bode well to dwell on these things, so she walked back to the beach, back straight and chin up, determined to put this incident out of her mind.

* * *

**A/N** : As usual, I apologize for any mistakes and enjoy, read, review, follow or favourite! Thank you xxx


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Read, enjoy, review, favourite or follow! Thank you : ) xxx

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko No Basuke!

* * *

After all the practices, drills and work outs, preliminaries for the Interhigh Championship has finally started. Expectantly, Kaijo High breezed through the preliminaries, easily winning the regionals tournament for Kanagawa Prefecture. And in between more practice and matches, they had also been attending some of the other matches for school's located around Tokyo. Kise was specifically interested in Seirin High's matches, he explained that his ex-teammate from Teiko Middle School is playing for Seirin and they had apparently acquired a new member, Kagami Taiga, whose potential apparently seemed to almost rival that of the Generation of Miracles. She has not met any of them officially seeing as how the last time the two schools had their practice match, she still haven't transferred to Kaijo High.

The match that they were going to watch that day was Seirin High playing against Shutoku High. Kise seemed excited for the match. She'd been told that another one of the Generation of Miracles, Midorima Shintarou, was in Shutoku High. And it would be the first time that any of the old members of Teiko Middle School would be playing each other in an official match since their graduation. So needless to say, Kise was all hyped up about, speculating and analyzing the upcoming match.

"So what's this Midorima guy like?" Ana asked.

Kise paused, thinking before replying,"Hmmm... He's got a no nonsense attitude on the surface, but ironically, he strongly believes in horoscopes, almost to the point that it dictates his life."

She raised an eyebrow,"Horoscopes?"

"Yeah, he religiously listens to his daily horoscopes, and he carries different 'lucky items' with him everywhere he goes."

"He sounds... quirky," she said as they all stepped into the stadium, looking for a place to sit.

"You have no idea. Look, there he is," Kise pointed out to the court as soon as they managed to find seats for themselves."He's the second one from right."

She looked where he pointed and saw a guy with dark green hair, wearing spectacles. She rolled her eyes before turning to Kise,"Is everyone from the Generation of Miracles so good looking? Like apart from being good at basketball, was there a prerequisite that you all had to score at least 9 out of 10 on aesthetics as well?"

He laughed,"I'll let you judge for yourself when you meet Akashicchi and Murasakicchi." He turned back to watch the game that has started.

It was an exciting match. It was a very close match as well with a score of 81 - 82 to Seirin High. Personally she thought that Shutoku High could've won if they had more teamwork between them. If it was a one on one, no doubt Midorima Shintaro would've won. But as it is, basketball was meant to be a team sports. With this win, Seirin High will be moving into the final leagues.

"This means it'll be very likely that they'll be playing Too Academy next," Kise said pensively, casually putting an arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him.

She stiffened at the mention of Too Academy. Too Academy reminded her of Aomine. And thinking about Aomine reminded her about that little incident at the beach that she tries to lock up in a mental box and push to the very back of her mind. Ever since that day on the beach, she'd been careful when she was out. She'd seen him on the streets a couple of times and immediately turned in the opposite direction. She has decided that the less they had to do with each other the better it will be for everyone in general. Still, it was easier said then done.

And then there's Kise. Things were surprisingly normal between them, just like he'd promised. Nothing has really changed between the both of them except maybe for the stolen kisses behind the school gym and locker room and the long, drawn out make out session at his place. She had been contemplating if she should tell Kise about what happened with Aomine but decided against it seeing as how it involves Aomine's girlfriend as well and it wasn't really her secret to tell.

"Shall we do dinner?" Kise asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Here? Or are back in Kanagawa?" she asked. They were currently in Tokyo for the Shutoku-Seirin match. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Tokyo from Kanagawa. Usually if they were planning on going out just the two of them, they'd opt for going into Tokyo since the likelihood of bumping into their schoolmates are smaller and it saves them the hassle of having to explain to people that they're not exactly dating eventhough they were holding hands.

"Tokyo, since we are already here, Kasamatsu-senpai will joining us as well," he said.

* * *

They decided to go into the first establishment that they came upon. It was a small restaurant and it was filled with the dinner crowd. Luckily they managed to find a table that could accommodate them. Ana sat down, exhaling loudly. Between the trip into Tokyo and watching the match, she was exhausted. She heard the doors opening and turned to look, Seirin High's team was in the same establishment as them. Through a series of events, somehow or other, Kuroko Tetsuya and Kagami Taiga ended up sharing their table as well. The atmosphere was just little awkward but it only got worse when Midorima Shintaro and his friend, Takao Kazunari came in. She could feel the temperature dropped lower as Midorima saw them. Somehow or other as well, in the end it was Ana, Kise, Midorima, Kagami and Kuroko sharing the table. If it was just slightly awkward earlier, it was positively awkward now.

Unable to stand the silence, Ana quickly said,"I don't think we've met. I'm Kamiya Ana."

Both Kuroko and Kagami were polite and introduced themselves accordingly.

Midorima on the other hand, sort just _hmmped_ at her before saying,"Yeah, I've heard of you from Aomine. In his words, 'the annoying brat that's constantly glued to Kise's side."

Her jaw dropped. _Why, that little piece of shit._ How dare he go around saying shit like that, she fumed inwardly.

"Well, you can tell him I don't think very highly of him either," she said in a miffed tone. The others were just silently watching their exchange.

"You can tell him that yourself," she heard a voice said from behind her.

She turned around in shocked, confirming what she's already known as soon as she heard his voice. Aomine stood behind her, trying to look all imposing.

"I don't think very highly of you, Ahomine!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Say that again," he said, leaning forward to pull at both her cheeks.

"Jackashh! Yet go owfh my sheeks," she said, swatting his hands away.

The rest were just staring at their interaction. Kise as usual was upbeat, Kuroko and Midorima was both aloof and Kagami, well, he looked excited, like he couldn't wait to play Aomine right then.

"Midorimacchi you should've told me you invited Aominecchi," Kise said.

"I did not invite him. I merely told him where I was going," Midorima said, pushing his glasses up.

Aomine dragged an empty chair from a nearby table and plopped down. "Ahh, I heard Midorima lost his game to Tetsu today. Thought I'll come and console him," he said in a mocking tone. "You're getting sloppy, Midorima. I've played him before. He shouldn't have been able to beat your team."

Kagami took offense immediately,"Wow, all the Generation of Miracles I've met so far are really arrogant jerks, but you really bring it to another level."

"Wait till you meet Akashicchi," Kise mumbled under his breath so softly that if Ana wasn't sitting so close to him she would've missed it.

"It's not arrogance when it's the truth. Don't get complacent. You might have beaten them but you'll never beat me," Aomine continued.

Kuroko who has been so quiet throughout the whole fiasco finally spoke up,"We'll beat you. Just you wait and see," he said in a quiet tone. And to that Aomine just smirked and continued talking to Kise and Midorima. After a while, everyone was talking to each other and some of the tension dissipated.

With all the tension and testosterone in the air earlier, she didn't even feel awkward with Aomine here. She supposed it's a good thing, it means that things could return to normal and they could return to antagonizing each other. She turned to look at him to find him already staring at her while the rest was chatting obliviously. She raised an eyebrow and mouthed _What?_ He smiled that roguish smile of his and she felt her heart skipped a beat. She made a big show of rolling her eyes at him and pulling a face at him before quickly turning away. It was childish, but that's about the only way she could deal with him when he's making her heart go all wonky.

She was so lost in her own thoughts she only just realized that Kise was not in his seat. A quick look around told her that Kise was on his phone and was on his way back to the table.

"I've got a photoshoot really early tomorrow morning. So I'll ride with you back to Kanagawa and come back here again," Kise said as soon as he sat down.

"It's okay. I'll go with Kasamatsu-senpai," she turned around to look for Kasamatsu who was last seen sitting with Takao.

"He's left first already. Doesn't matter anyway, I'll take you home," Kise said.

"No, no, it'll be tiring for you, I'll be fine on my own. Geez, how old do you think I am anyway," she huffed although she found it endearing that Kise was so protective.

"Right... Then I'll never hear the end of it from your brother if I let you go home alone at night," Kise said. He's met her brother a few times before and had seen how overprotective he could be sometimes. Her brother gave her a lot of freedom but he also expect her to be responsible as well. "Or you could call him and tell him you're staying over tonight," he said, excited at having found a solution.

"Yeah... That sounds like a solution although I'm not too sure he'll be too happy either about me staying with you," she said wryly. "I'll call him and let-"

"No. Go back. Do you know how it looks for you to be staying over at Kise's place?" Aomine suddenly interjected.

Silence. You could hear a pin drop. And everyone simultaneously swiveled around to look at Aomine with an astounded expression on their face.

As if only realizing what he just said he quickly covered it up. "What?I'm just saying... Girls should not be casually staying over at another boy's place," he said unconvincingly, trying to be all annoyed.

Kise was still flabbergasted, Kagami looked confused and Kuroko, well, Kuroko was being Kuroko. It was Midorima that answered him,"You mean like how Lena stays over at your place casually?"

Kagami snorted and Ana almost spat her drinks out. _Go, Midorima_, she thought. She looked up and her eyes caught Kagami's and in a moment of solidarity, both of them burst out laughing. Aomine shot them both a glare that she supposed they were supposed to find menacing but only made them laugh more.

"It's not like t-that," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Hypocrite," Kagami coughed.

"Pffftt." Ana. They looked at each other and suppressed the urge to laugh again. There was something funny about seeing somebody as cocksure as Aomine all flustered. And in that moment she knew and she could see herself getting along with Kagami Taiga, at the very least when it comes to Aomine anyway.

"Aomine-kun, how is it different?" Kuroko deadpanned.

_Snort. _

_Muffled laughters. _

"She can stay with Kise for all I care. I was just saying," he quickly backpedaled, singing a different tune from earlier.

"We've just met but Kamiya-san, you can stay with us at Kagami's place. Our coach will be with us as well," Kuroko offered.

Taken aback by his generous offer, she opened her mouth to decline out of courtesy but Kise beat her to it,"It's fine, Kurokocchi. She doesn't know most of your teammates, she'll feel out of place."

"Thanks for your offer but I'll feel like I'm intruding," she declined politely, shooting a glare at Kise for cutting her off.

"Kuroko, couples need their own privacy," Midorima said in an all knowing tone.

Ana sighed, exasperated, pinching the bridge of her nose. She'd swore for a bunch of geniuses, they were really quite idiotic.

"Thank you for enlightening Kuroko but me and Kise? So _not_ a couple," she said and Kise nodded in agreement.

"Ahhh, in that case, Kamiya-san, I have to agree it's dangerous for you to be staying the night alone with Kise since you're not a couple," Kuroko said.

"That's really mean, Kurokocchi! I wouldn't do anything to Ana if she didn't want me too," Kise said dramatically, shooting her a knowing look which Aomine no doubt saw.

She'd no idea why everyone was so concerned about her virtue or why they're still talking about it. As it is, that boat has sailed a loonggggggg time ago. In order to stop this fuss she finally said," Look guys, I appreciate the concern but I'll be staying with Kise. If it makes any of you feel better, you all can come stay over."

"Ehhh... W-what? How!" Kise spluttered.

She quickly lowered her voice so only Kise could hear,"Trust me, I don't think any of them will show up. I've only just met them today."

"Yeah, but they've known me a long time, they would definitely show up if they think it'll annoy me or if they think they're cock blocking me," he said.

She shrugged,"I guess we'll see."

* * *

Turned out that Kise was right. Everyone was there except for Midorima, who made it clear it was none of his business. Kuroko was obviously there out of a misguided sense to protect her virtue and possibly to annoy Kise, Kagami is there probably to annoy Kise _and_ antagonize Aomine, whom reason of being here escaped her. He'd announced that he was coming along and apparently after thinking better of it, called Lena and invited her along too. Ana had no idea that the day would end with an impromptu slumber party, and it was all that idiot Aomine's fault. With that thought, she sent him glare.

"Kise, you sort out the sleeping arrangement for everyone. I'm going to change," she said, heading into the master bedroom, slamming the door behind her for good measure. She'd been to this penthouse before. The modeling agency Kise belonged to, leased the place for Kise to stay in whenever he had work in Tokyo. She yanked the closet open and took out a pair of boxers and t-shirt.

As she was stepping out the door after showering and freshening up, she could hear the commotion in the living room, they were arguing about whether or not she should sleep in Kise's room.

"I could sleep with her," she heard Lena's voice piped up.

"If that's what she wants then by all means. But I'm telling you she'll agree with what I said," Kise said.

"I agree with Yamato-san," Kuroko added in.

"Doesn't really bother me," Kagami shrugged.

"Are you guys all worried about my chastity or are you guys just trying to cockblock Kise?" Ana finally interjected.

She saw Aomine took in her appearance, her wearing Kise's clothing, before turning away. She continued,"Trust me, I'm in no danger of losing my virtue. That boat has sailed a long time ago and IF you're trying to cockblock Kise, you don't have to. Nothing is going to happen," she said with an air of finality.

She could see Aomine was opening his mouth to protest again when Kuroko cut in,"If that's the way you feel then I guess it's your decision."

"Right, so it's settled then. Kagami and Kuroko can take the second room with the double queen bed and Aomine and Yamato-san can take the other room with the single queen bed," Ana said,"Or, if any of you finally realized how ridiculous you're behaving, you are welcome to leave," she ordered, looking every bit like the lady of the manor.

* * *

After everyone has settled in (apparently every single one of them was too stubborn to admit they were wrong since no one left), they gathered in the living room. She was sprawled out on the couch.

"So, should we watch a movie? I vote for horror movie," Lena said excitedly.

"What? Hh-horror movies a-are lame," Kagami said vehemently.

"I'm okay with horror movie," Kuroko said.

Kagami was outvoted so they ended up watching a horror movie. Ana was sitting in between Kise and Kagami on the three seater, Kuroko was sprawled on the floor and Aomine and Lena took the two seater. The entire time she could feel Kagami flinching, and she could see his knuckles were turning white from gripping the sofa too hard. She found it somewhat adorable that a huge guy like him was afraid of horror movies. She tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped.

She stifled her laughter,"Wanna share the blanket with me and Kise? You can use it to cover your eyes."

"Cover my eyes? For what? But yeah, thanks, it's getting a little chilly," Kagami said before quickly grabbing the blanket as if afraid she would rescind her offer.

This was actually quite fun, eventhough most of them are all in their own world. Aomine had both his arms wrapped around Lena, and they were canoodling more than watching the movie. It was evident that he cared abundantly for Lena. His demeanor was usually hard, uncaring and arrogant but when he's around Lena, his personality softened. It was clear in the protective way he placed his arms around her, or the over indulgent look on his face whenever she tilted her face up to speak to him and the soft almost smile on his face when Lena's not aware of him looking at her. To be completely honest, it was a little disheartening for Ana to see all these. She felt her chest constricted, and she turned away to spare herself of the sight of the two of them.

"You okay?" Kise asked in lowered voice.

"Yeah, a little tired. It's been a long day," she said wryly, leaning into his side when he put an arm around her. She felt significantly better, when he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss on the side on her head.

"Wanna call it a night?" he asked, hands trailing circles on her arms. It was only close to 10.30 pm. As tired as she was, she knew as soon as she lay on the bed, sleep would elude her.

She shook her head, turning her head a little sideways to kiss him on the chin. "In a while maybe. I can't really get away now anyway," she said dryly, gesturing to her left hand which was held in tight grip by a white faced Kagami.

"Tone it down guys, some of us are actually watching the movie," Aomine called out in annoyance.

"Yes, _some_ of us might be watching the movie but you definitely weren't watching the movie. So shut it," Ana retorted pointedly. How dare he accuse them of what he himself was doing.

"What? Say it again, brat!" Aomine said in a hard voice.

"Daiki-" Lena protested.

Ana pried Kagami's hands off her, and sighed,"You know what, I'm really sick of this. Kuroko, Kagami, I'm going to bed. Good night," she said, getting up to go into the bedroom.

"Goodnight," both Kuroko and Kagami said in unison.

"Yeah, retreat while you can," Aomine sneered. Lena was gripping his arm, trying to dissuade him from talking any further.

Ana ignored him and looked expectantly Kise who got up as well and bid everyone goodnight.

* * *

She woke up to find Kise's arms slung across her body. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was 10 minutes past 3 in the morning. She gingerly lifted Kise's hands off her and slipped out of bed. When she saw Aomine outside on the living room, fiddling with a basketball, she wasn't even surprised. They did after all had the tendency to meet at the weirdest place. She went to the refrigerator to pour herself a glass of water, she gave a nod to Aomine by way of acknowledgment when he turned around.

"Can't sleep?" she asked, voice still heavy with sleep.

She saw her reflection in the mirror, mortified. Her clothes were rumpled and her hair looked like a rat's nest. She grimaced.

He laughed, as if reading her mind,"Yeah, you look amazing right now."

"Shut it. I don't want to hear that from you. Your bed head is not any better than mine."

"Sit for a bit?" he asked, nodding towards the couch opposite his.

She plopped down on the couch,"What's up? Excited for your upcoming match?"

"Hahhh? What is there to be excited about. It's always the same anyway. I'll end up winning," he said matter of factly.

She raised an eyebrow,"Charming. Ever heard of the word modesty?"

"Nope, no idea what it means. So... You and Kise?" he swiftly changed the subject.

She rolled her eyes,"No. How many times have I told you guys."

"Considering how comfortable you are sleeping in the same bedroom as him... And I did saw you guys making out at the beach," he said, teasing.

Momentarily stunned, it took her a few seconds to gather her wits. "It's not like that. Boyfriends are so transient. He's much more important than that."

"So you kissed everyone that's important to you?" he countered, smirking.

"C'mon. Have you _seen_ how he looks like. That boy is too beautiful for his own good. I'm attracted to him, and he's attracted to me. We're both single, and we both agreed that our relationship as it is, is too important for us to screw up by dating each other."

"So in other words, you're friends with benefits?" Aomine said with an inscrutable expression.

"When you put it like that it sounds shallow but fundamentally yeah, you're right," she said shrugging. She looked at him before continuing."You know, I think you're a jerk. But then again when I see you with Lena, I think that you're actually a pretty okay guy. Still a jerk, but a jerk with redeemable qualities because of his girlfriend. She makes you a better person," she said teasingly.

"Yeah... She has tendency to bring the best out in people," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

She noticed his eyes softened considerably when he spoke of Lena and brushed off the slight pang she felt. "You really lucked out with her. Better hold on to her tight. Nobody in their right mind would date you," she said, needling him.

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to tell me that. I know," he said in a somber tone. And when he looked at her, she couldn't read the look in his eyes. They sat there quietly looking at each other, deep in their own thoughts.

She stood up abruptly, feigning a yawn when her heart was hammering so hard in her chest. "I...I think I'm gonna head in. Kinda sleepy," she said.

"Yeah... I'm gonna try to catch some shut eye as well. Good night, Ana," he said softly.

They stood there for a minute that felt like forever before walking to their respective room. Neither one of them could sleep that night.

* * *

Kuroko Tetsuya is quite an astute person. During dinner, as soon as Aomine showed up, he could clearly sense there was some underlying between Aomine and Ana. At first, he didn't think much of it until he saw Aomine sneaking looks at her whenever Ana wasn't looking and vice versa. Clearly there was something between them. It was made even clearer to Kuroko what exactly was happening when Aomine got jealous when he heard Ana was staying at Kise's place. And their little spat while watching the movie only cemented that fact.

What was worrying was when he woke up earlier to go the bathroom, he saw them sitting outside and without meaning to he heard bits and pieces of their conversations. It wasn't what was said between them that was shocking but all the unsaid things he could hear. Kuroko wondered if they both knew they were treading in dangerous waters. He could tell both of them were holding back but it was just a matter of time before this blows up. And a lot of people were gonna get hurt, not just Lena, if Kuroko was right about those looks that Kise gets whenever he looks at Ana. Kuroko sighed, he could only hope nobody gets hurt.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: There's quite a bit of interaction between the oc and Aomine in this chapter but in terms of romance, there isn't much because I want them trying hard to be friends first and not give into temptation so fast. They should probably stay away from each other but they can't help it cause they keep on gravitating back to each other. But that said, it'll probably be 1-2 more chapters until something happens. Thanks for bearing with me. Enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favourite! xxx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Kuroko No Basuke!

* * *

When she woke up late morning, she realized it was just Aomine and her left in the house. Of course it would've been like that, she should've seen it coming. Fate really was trying to be funny with her. Kise had left her a note saying he would be back by evening after his modeling job, Kagami and Kuroko had just left without a word, probably not wanting to wake up those who were still asleep and according to Aomine, Lena had gotten up this morning and left because she had some errands to run. So, in the end, it was just the two of them. _Again_.

She stared at him warily,"Uhh... So you're heading home now?" she asked hopefully. _Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes._

"Careful there, you sounded like you wanted to get rid of me," he teased,"I think I'll stay for a while."

Her shoulders slumped, temporarily resigned. Might as well deal it with. Better to get out of the house and be in some place public. "It's almost lunch time. Wanna go grab something to eat?"

"Heh... Might as well."

"Alright, give me 15. Gonna go shower," she said heading into the master bath.

* * *

After a while, they left the house together. In daylight, she found it easier to deal with Aomine. There's something about the night that made her feelings run amok and sappy. It made her mind wander into the dangerous territory of what-ifs. But under the sun, she felt like whatever was brewing between them was only a figment of her imagination. Cheered up by that thought, she steered them into a tiny breakfast place.

"This place okay with you?" she asked, without waiting to see if he was following her, she headed to the counter. "Can I have scrambled eggs and 2 pancakes please?" she placed her order before turning to Aomine to ask what he wanted.

She had no idea if he was doing it on purpose or if he was just truly unaffected and didn't think much of his gesture but he stepped closer and placed both his hands on the counter, effectively trapping her body against him and the counter. He rested his chin on her head, studiously looking at the menu on the wall. "I'll have the big breakfast, with extra bacons, sausages and hams. Oh, and I'll also have the club sandwich," he said.

She could feel the heat from the front of his body on her back and the weight of his chin on her head. Fortunately, thanks to his height and long limbs, his entire front body wasn't pressed to her back. She froze for who knows how long and ignoring the pitter-pattering of her heart, she tried to step out from under his arms as casually as she could. She really wanted to wring his neck. Had they not established, granted it wasn't verbally, that they should avoid physical contact at all cost. Had they not silently agree to not put themselves in situations like that? She thought they had a mutual agreement to maintain whatever semblance of a platonic relationship they had. And what he just did, as innocuous as it seemed, totally just broke all their agreements. She really can't understand him. It was a simple act but it spoke of intimacy between two people, a gesture that was sweet and -

_Stop_. Her train of thoughts were wandering into places she didn't care for it to go.

She insisted they went Dutch when it came to paying for the food even though he wanted to pay for it. She shot him a venomous glare and stalked to an empty table nearby. He slid into the chair opposite her and rested his face on his left palm with a bored look on his face,"What has gotten your panties in a twist this time?" he drawled.

"What was _that_?" her tone was flat.

"What was what?" he asked with a shrug.

"Stop playing dumb. That wasn't fair and you know it."

He shrugged,"Don't read too much into it and don't flatter yourself, I do that to Satsuki too," his tone a little bit unkind.

"It would do you good to remember that I am neither your childhood friend not your girlfriend."

"Trust me, there's no way I'd forget that," he mumbled darkly.

She sighed,"Look. I don't know how it is for you but after our...previous skirmishes, don't you think-"

"Fine, fine," he said dismissively, digging into his sandwich.

Resigned, she heaved a sigh,"You are incorrigible."

He smirked,"It has been said more than once. That's why all the girls love me. Well, that and the way I play basketball"

She laughed,"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Laugh all you want. I'm going off after this to shoot some hoops at the park. Wanna come with? Maybe then you'll realize how great I am and be nicer to me," he said, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Hmmph, I doubt it but sure, why not? It might be good for your ego when I don't fall all over your feet after watching you play."

He was right. Not like she was going to tell him. She'd rather glue her mouth shut with industrial strength glue than admit he was right. He looked magnificent when he was playing basketball; all tanned skin, taut muscles and long limbs. He was graceful and athletic. It took all her acting skills to keep her face stolid and looking unimpressed. But then again, Kise looked equally as good when he was playing as well. Different but equally as good. So she sat at the sideline, under the shade of the tree, alternating between watching him play and fidgeting with her phone. To assuaged her boredom she texted Kise.

_Any chance of coming back early? _

_Doubt it. Miss me already? _(^ ^)

_Lol. Yeah, yeah, I'm practically pining for you! Come back soon. _

Just as she was going to put her phone back down, it was snatched from her hand.

"Hey, it's rude to text while you're supposed to watch me play," Aomine said, holding on to her phone.

"Yeah, it was unremarkable and I got distracted," she said, ribbing him.

"Oh, is that so?" he lifted an eyebrow,"Shall I see what was it that was so interesting on your phone." He made to unlock her phone and she lunged at him to grab her phone back. He easily lifted it up away from her hands as he started reading it out aloud, snickering.

She cringed at his falsetto, laughing while grabbing at her phone futilely.

"_That_, does not sound like me. Or is that your default female voice?"

He'd finished reading her text out loud but was still talking in falsetto,"Ooohhh, Kise-kun, I miss you so much please come save me."

Laughters still racking her body, she darted close to him, he thought she was going to attempt to reach for her phone so he lifted it above his head, but she quickly grabbed him and started digging for his phone from his front pocket and she made to dash away from him once she obtained the phone.

"Oi! Brat! Get back here with my phone," he shouted, giving chase.

She only laughed in response and she made to unlock his phone and entered his inbox. She did not had to search very long, Lena's messages were right at the top. She turned to look back and saw him closing in on her. She made a mad dash to the kiddy slides, hoping that his size would deter him from following her into the tiny tunnel of the slides, it was the best strategy she could come up with given the short notice. She turned back down to look at the messages, prepared to immitate Aomine's gruff voice when she came to a screeching halt after reading some of the recent the messages.

_Thump._

She felt herself being knocked down to the ground. She opened her eyes to see Aomine sitting in front of her, looking no worse for the wear.

"Oh, my God. Take it, take it away," she said, practically chucking his phone back at him.

He laughed uproariously,"Serves you right for poking your nose where they don't belong."

"How would I know there would be sext messages in there. Oh my God, I'm going to need acid to bleach out all these mental images." she complained,"Give me back my phone," she opened up her palms in front of him.

"You cut yourself."

"Huh? Oh it must have been when I was trying to break my fall earlier," she shrugged grabbing her phone back.

He made a move to capture her hand and opened it up, looking at the scratches at the base of her palm. "We should probably get you clean up," he said, pulling her up.

"I can't even look at you now," she said, covering her face trying not to laugh.

"Hah?!"

"I'm sorry but," she bursted out laughing uncontrollably,"you're such an idiot that even your sext messages are filled with basketball jargons and innuendos."

He looked uncomfortable now, if it wasn't for his tan skin, she'd swore he was blushing.

She laughed again,"'Ball handling'? Really?" she guffawed. "You're really good at 'dribbling'?" she said it slyly in a voice full of innuendos.

"Stop it, we should get your palm cleaned up," he said gruffly, clearly embarrassed.

"Yeah, that'll teach you to snatch my phone away again, Mr. Hotshot Basketball Player," she snickered, finally relenting.

They walked to the washroom and headed towards the taps located outside. He took her hand and put it under the running water, uncharacteristically gentle, when he started cleaning the wound. She felt her heart rate increased but remembered what Kise had said before.

_"It's only a big deal if you make it a big deal."_

Aomine seemed fine and unaffected, so she should follow his cue and not get all flustered. And to her surprise, it seemed to work somewhat, her heart rate slowed almost to her normal rate.

"Thanks," she smiled,"For the hand and for the good laugh."

"Tch... Yeah, yeah, glad that I amused you," he said, turning to look away while scratching the back of his neck.

"Hey. Give me your phone. Promised I won't go looking through your phone," she said to him as he warily handed over his phone. After fiddling with his phone, she passed it back to him,"There! I programmed my number into your phone. Let's hang out sometime. You're pretty funny when you're not busy trying to irritate me."

"Heh... Speak for yourself, short stack," he said.

"Anyway, I'm heading back to Kise's place. I guess I'll probably see you during your match against Seirin next. Good luck," she said.

"Cheh... I don't need luck. I've told you, the only person who can beat me, is me."

"Yeah, okay, hotshot. See you soon,"she beamed, giving him a wave before walking off.

* * *

The week crawled by really slowly following that, she'd been busy with summer homework and managing the basketball team. Kise had been practicing extra hard as well with the rest of the guys. And they were all relieved to get a day off to go watch the match between Too and Seirin. They all decided to meet up late afternoon at the train station seeing as the match begins in the evening. On the train, on the way to the stadium, she'd texted him a short _See you!_ but there weren't any reply. She didn't though much of it, assuming he was in practice or something.

"Hey, you've been spacing for the last 15 minutes," Kise said suddenly, chucking her lightly on the head. "I'm beginning to feel unwanted," he said dramatically.

She smiled, giving him a chaste kiss on his jaw,"You are always wanted," she said grabbing hold of his arms.

"I was just thinking about the match today. I know you guys all say that Aomine is really, really good but I somehow feel that Kagami with Kuroko in tow might actually have a chance," she mused.

"You've not seen Aomine play in a match. Even when he's playing half heartedly, he's still better by leaps and bounds compared to other above average players," Kise said. "Who knows, Seirin might surprise us but at this point in time, I don't think they'll be able to beat Too Academy let alone Aomine."

"Ahhh, but he's so arrogant with his 'the only one who can beat me, is me' shit that I think it would be awesome to wipe that shit eating grin off his face," she said, laughing.

"I don't blame him though. I know how he feels, in a way. You have to understand that all of us Generation of Miracles are really good, and it was hard to find anyone that could rival our abilities, even more so when we were all in a team."

"You're just as arrogant as the rest of them, you're lucky I love you anyway," she said, giving him a nudge.

He smiled one of his dazzling smile for her before continuing,"Anyway, all I'm saying is Aomine is the way he is because he's just disillusioned. He loves basketball the most out of everyone. But he's gotten so strong that he no longer have anyone that he could play with wholeheartedly and that in itself took away the joy of basketball from him."

"Even more reason for him to lose. I think it'll be good for him," she said shrugging. "Anyway, enough about him. I've not seen you much the entire week except for at school or practices. You're treating for tonight's dinner."

"Your wish is my command, princess," he said with flair.

* * *

On the way walking into the stadium, they met the entire first strings of Shutoku High bar Midorima. Apparently he had no interest in the match between his former teammates although Takao was pretty sure that Midorima was lurking around somewhere, claiming that _that_ tsundere Midorima would definitely be here. She and Kise decided to go get some drinks before entering the stadium resulting in them being slightly late. The first thing they noticed was Seirin High lagging behind Too Academy. The second thing was a figure in front of them who look suspiciously like Midorima. Ana tried stifling her laughters to no avail, Midorima obviously thought he was well disguised when in reality he had only donned a pair of sunglasses. Like anyone's gonna miss his tall stature and green hair. What was even funnier was that he seemed genuinely surprised that Kise recognized him. She left the boys talking among themselves while she looked around.

She saw Lena sitting in the stands directly behind the bench where the first strings, substitutes, coach and Momoi were sitting. Lena's face looked grim and Ana saw her typing into her phone furiously. She wondered what happened to cause such a reaction from the beautiful girl. No doubt it had something to do with Aomine. It didn't take long for her to figure out exactly what was wrong after a glance at the court, she noticed Aomine was conspicuously missing from the line up.

"Seirin is paying for underestimating Too. They'd been so focused on Aomine they might have slightly forgotten that the team is formidable on it's own as well. Not to forget they have Momoi on their team," she overheard Midorima saying to Kise.

"Ah, but Seirin is holding up pretty well and-" Kise said before he was interrupted by a whistle signaling a member change on Seirin's side.

She saw Kagami walking back to the bench and the coach, Aida Riko, taping up his legs. She wondered briefly if he was okay but was reassured when he looked significantly pumped up after exchanging words with the coach. Ana's eyes drifted slightly to the side when she noticed Aomine walking in. She doesn't think anybody has noticed him yet. She watched as he casually slung an arm over Kagami and said something with an insouciant smirk on his face that got Kagami all riled up. He then walked to the stands, approaching Lena, exchanged some words with her before giving her a kiss on the forehead. She saw the coach said something to him and he took off his jacket, flinging it at Satsuki.

_I guess they're putting him even though there's only less than a minute left in the first half,_ she thought to herself.

As he prepared to step into court, she saw him looked up into the stands. It was probably wishful thinking but she couldn't help thinking he might be looking for her.

The game resumed and to everyone's surprised Kagami managed to block a shot by Aomine and the first half ended when Aomine blocked Kagami's shot. Ana might not have Aida Riko's ability to assessed the potential of players nor does she have the impressive analytical ability that Satsuki possessed but even she could tell that Aomine was not even trying at all. He wasn't even playing half heartedly, it was way less than that. She watched as each respective team went back to their locker room to recuperate. She took out her phone and texted him.

_Jackass, at the very least make an effort to look like you're actually trying._

_Heh. What difference does it make if I try or not, I'm still gonna win anyway. But I promise to make all my shots. Does that count?_

_You're incorrigible. _

_You know it. _

She smiled at his reply, she could just imagine that roguish smile on his face as he replied, locking her phone. After a short interval, she saw the team coming out and this time instead of sitting front row, Lena was sitting at the bench with the rest. She was holding on to his jacket and took the towel that was covering his head from him. The match started of normally, with Aomine in the lead but somehow Kagami managed to almost keep up. It was technically the first time she's watching Aomine play and she was plenty impressed. She had no idea what changed but she could see he suddenly made an effort, albeit only a little, and his form had all but changed. It was completely different from what she had seen at the park.

There were no rhyme or rhythm to his movement and it was completely erratic yet he looked incredible and performed even better. With that Seirin dropped even further behind scores with Kagami hardly able to keep up. _He really is a monster_, Ana mused inwardly. It wasn't even his full strength and he had not been training in quite a while and he was still so good.

She could now slightly empathized with what Kise was trying to tell her earlier on in the train. Having their score lagged behind, Seirin has finally decided to put Kuroko back in the game. With Kuroko in the game they managed to score twice before Aomine started catching Kuroko's passes, from then onwards Aomine kept scoring and things went downhill for Seirin, even more so after Kagami got benched. Too Academy won the game with a score of 112-55. With that game won, it's pretty much certain that Kaijo would be playing Too soon. She could tell Kise was thinking the same thing and could see the determination on his face to try and succeed where Seirin failed.

"The 2nd half of the game was difficult to watch and it was excruciating," she walked next to Kise as they were heading out. Initially, she wanted to look for Seirin and to at least tell them they were commendable in that they did not give up till the very end but decided against it, thinking she would be unwelcome and it would be better to let them lick their wound in peace.

"Hmmm... After watching that I'm really fired up now. Up for watching me practice?" Kise asked.

"Only after you feed me."

Hand in hand, they both headed for dinner. Both filled with thoughts of the upcoming match with Too Academy. Regardless of how it turns out, it was going to be the first official match between two member of the Generation of Miracles. It was definitely going to be a highly anticipated match with a massive turn out. She was definitely looking forward to that match.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: I'm not quite sure I like this chapter but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway! Enjoy, read, review, follow and/or favourite! xxx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Kuroko No Basuke!

* * *

The week following the match between Kaijo High and Too Academy was intense. The guys practiced harder than ever, motivated by the match between Too and Seirin. After seeing the way Too performed, they knew they had to push the limits to their capabilities. Ana spent a lot of time in the gym with the guys, helping out whenever and wherever she could. When she wasn't at the gym, she would be up early in the morning, accompanying Kise on his early morning run. Seeing as her stamina is nowhere even close to his, she was usually trailing behind and after a while, she'd stop to sit nearby, waiting for Kise to finish, handing him drinks and his towel. Alternately, she would accompany him to the gym to work out. The both of them probably spent the most time together then in the entire time of them knowing each other. Out of all his work out regimes, she liked this one best. She would pick a stool to sit on while she watched silently as Kise lifted weights, do sit-ups, run on the treadmill and the whole works. There's something to be said about watching his muscle tensed and untensed as he lifted weights, or one of her favourites, watching the slow trail of droplets of sweat making their way down his chest and abdominals as he worked out.

"Anymore drooling from you and we are going to have our own personal indoor pool in here," he teased after watching her ogled him.

"If you don't want me to stare, maybe you should put a shirt on," she stuck her tongue out at him, still staring at him unabashedly.

He laughed and continued his sit-ups, his washboard abs really were a sight to see. After the timer hit 30 minutes, he stopped, only slightly breathless. He lay unmoving on the sit-up bench, eyes closed. She made her way towards him with towel and water bottle in tow. When she was less than a foot away, his arm shot out and grabbed her arm and pulled her down for a kiss.

"Nooo, you're sweaty," she complained half in jest.

"You weren't complaining when you were looking at me earlier," he said.

"Looking and having your sweat all over me is a different matter," she said, dropping the towel over his head.

"Whatever. If it makes you sleep easier at night, keep telling yourself that," he said, drying his hair with the towel.

Her and Kise had been dancing between the fine line of platonic relationship and romantic relationship for a long time now. He did say before that he dislike girls that tie him down and wasn't looking to be in a mutually exclusive relationship so it works out well for Ana. Even though they were 'affectionate' with each other, he sometimes goes on dates as well. It wasn't like he tried to keep his going out with other girls a secret from her. Ana was much more interested in being best friends than anything else. As long as the girls he casually dates doesn't come between their friendship, she could care less if he'd dated one or ten of them. But she had to admit the reason why she had not slept with Kise was due to the numerous girls he already had in his bed. And to be completely honest with herself, recently she'd been revising her opinion. She had suddenly found herself not too averse to the idea of having a boyfriend. It wasn't like she had to have one immediately, but she used to be against the idea but recently she thought that if(big if) the right person showed up, she might not be too indisposed towards the idea.

"Anyway, it's almost dinner time! I'm starving. Shall we go to Mercato for dinner?" she asked, reading the messages from her phone.

"Eh! I though you didn't like that place," he looked at, surprised she suggested the place she has repeatedly turned down whenever he suggested it.

She lifted her phone up, turning the screen to him,"It can't be helped. Kasamatsu-senpai wants to meet there."

"Ehhh, that's weird. Why didn't he text me?" he checked his phone to verify that he indeed did not receive any text message from Kasamatsu. "That's mean. Are you dumping me now for Kasamatsu?"

She laughed and patted his head,"Not if you behave yourself _and_ you do know that you're not the only one I'm friends with on the team right?" she said. "In all seriousness though, I was the one who asked him to come out with the rest of the guys. Don't you think he's been acting a little tensed since Interhigh began? I think he needs to relax a little. And oh yeah, you're right, I don't like Mercato, therefore you guys can have a boys' night."

"Yeah, thanks for asking for my opinion," he said sarcastically.

"Why? I know you'll agree to it anyway," she said, packing her things up and giving him a wave before heading out the door.

* * *

_Where are you? _

_Hello to you too. Kanagawa. Heading for dinner. Why? _

_With Kise? _

_No, I sort of set up a boys night out for the team to blow of some steam. Again, why? _

That Aomine was really getting on her nerves. After getting whatever it is he wanted, he just stopped replying. She fumed inwardly, adjusting the strap of her bag as she made her way across the school to the school gate.

"Yo," she heard him say before she saw his form leaning against the school gate.

Mouth agaped, it took a second before she composed herself. "What are you doing all the way here in Kanagawa?"

"Satsuki insisted that I came along on her data gathering mission on your team. She won't listen to me even though I said we don't need it to win," he shrugged.

"I beg to differ and too bad for her that none of _my_ boys are here. Is it necessary for her to come all the way here anyway? Can't she just re-watch old videos?" she grumbled to herself.

He raised an eyebrow,"_Your_ boys?"

She waved him off,"Figure of speech. Anyway, where is she?"

"She's somewhere off figuring out where your boys went." He fell in steps next to her.

"Huh...If she thinks it's going to help then whatever. What about you?"

"Dinner."

"Hah?"

"You said you're off to dinner right? I'm coming with," he said in a voice that brook no arguments.

"Presumptuous much? What if I was on my way to a date?" she asked indignantly.

He looked her up and down, taking in her oversized sweater, skinny jeans and sneakers. "No wonder you're single if you go to all your dates dressed like that."

"Excuse me, I'll have you know it's by choice," she said giving him the evil eye.

"By choice? Whatever the hell for?"

"Because I really don't think any romantic relationship at this age is going to last. We are all hormone drivened. I just don't see the point. If I wanted to feel loved, I have my family and friends for that. And we are still young, we should take the opportunity to explore our options. And, errr, if I wanted the physical side of a relationship-"

"You have Kise for that," he cut her off, finishing her sentence. "I don't disagree with you but you don't have to expressly go out of your way to avoid it."

"Like I told you before. Kise is different. He's my friend and also my, errmm, friends with benefits," she said defensively.

"You're so full of sh-"

This time she cut him off,"To be honest though, I find myself reconsidering my opinion recently. I don't think it's that bad an idea if I do get a boyfriend," she laughed, "Even the word boyfriend makes me cringe."

"So why the sudden change in opinion?" He walked into a fast food restaurant while continuing the conversation.

She bit the bottom of her lip, thinking ,"I don't know exactly know why but I guess when I see certain people or even couples, it doesn't seemed like such a bad thing. In fact, when I see you with your girlfriend, it honestly makes me think being in a relationship is not that bad. And," she lowered her voice conspiratorially,"This is really weird, and you better not tell Kise but when I see people like Kasamatsu-senpai, it makes me feel like having a boyfriend like him wouldn't be so bad." She blushed prettily at her own confession.

"HAH! You like your captain?" Aomine said pretty loudly.

She clamped his mouth shut. "Oh my God. I don't like him, idiot! I'm just saying, hypothetically, if I wanted a boyfriend, someone like Kasamatsu-senpai would be okay with me."

He helped her carry their tray of food to the table as the conversation continued,"Not Kise?"

"Hmmm. If I hadn't gotten so close to Kise platonically in the beginning, it might have been okay, I guess. But he doesn't even want a girlfriend as of yet so that point is moot."

"Kise that bastard sure do have a lot of girls around him. And he used to brag about it in this annoying subtle way back in middle school."

"He still does. Not so much to me but you should see how Kasamatsu-senpai deals with him." She laughed as if recalling something funny.

The conversation faded to a comfortable silence as both of them focused on eating their food. She finished her food first seeing as Aomine ordered a significantly larger amount. Her hands slowly crept towards his tray and she sneakily tried to steal some French fries off his plate but his lightly smacked her hands away.

"Get your own," he said, still continuing to eat.

"Don't want to. Anyway, I was just testing your reflex."

He looked at her doubtfully. "I'm sure that was what you were doing."

"Anyway, I'm sure you can find your own way back. I'm off. I had a long day today," she said, gathering her things.

He grabbed her arms and pulled her back down to her seat. "Oi! Can't you wait for a bit."

She sighed and resigned herself to waiting for him to finished his food. "Would you hurry? Where's Lena anyway?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm almost done. She's got Student Council meeting that ran late. She's mostly busy with a lot of school stuff. A little bit of an over achiever that one," he said fondly.

She had nothing to add to that so she kept quiet waiting for him to finish the last of his food. After he was done, he stood up stretching. "Where are you off to now?"

"Home? Unless there's somewhere else you want to go?"

He checked his phone,"Satsuki's supposed to call me once she's done. So I've still got a little time to kill."

"Ermm... We could go to the park I guess."

With the decision made, they both walked to the park in companionable silence until Aomine suddenly said,"Who was it?"

"Hah? Who was what?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"I've been thinking. All you said about not wanting a boyfriend. Someone made you that way. So, who was it?"

Surprised by his astuteness, she contemplated if she should tell him. After all, it had happened only less than a year ago. "This guy from my old school. It's totally cliched. Caught him with my best friend," she said lightly. When he didn't say anything, she continued, "My best friend, Rei, she was really smart and really pretty so I've always sort of had this inferiority complex when it comes to her. Doesn't help that a few guys that I had a crush on, all liked her as well," she paused, "Then, Sho, that's his name, he was the most beautiful thing ever, and he was kind and he liked me. Or so he said. Long story short, I fell head over heels for him. I was young and stupid, I thought by giving up my virginity, it would be enough to make him stay. It wasn't enough anyway," she smiled bitterly.

"Tch... You really are a bad judge of character," he said flippantly, not looking at her.

"Jerk. That explains why I'm hanging around the likes of you doesn't it?" she countered.

"He's an idiot for what it's worth," he said quietly, sitting down on the bench.

"Mmm... I'm over it. The fact that I'm even considering getting a boyfriend proves that right? That's why I'm really thankful for the boys from my team. They really are a bunch of good people. I see them and I realized not all guys are jerks."

"Oi! Aren't you forgetting someone?" he said indignantly.

"Pftttt... Sorry, but you're an ass. You kissed me while your girlfriend was less than 10 minutes away from where we were."

"I told her. I couldn't lie to her." His voice was low and gruff.

"Did she asked why you did it?" she asked. What she meant was _Why did you kiss me?_ She was sure he was gonna bolt. The conversation they were having were heading into dangerous territory.

"Honestly? I don't know. I thought you were okay looking in the beginning. You're infuriating and annoyingly childish sometimes. You act tough like nothing fazes you but a small bump on your nose made you tear up," he said referring to the night when she literally bumped into him, "You're hot and then you're cold. You are a hard ass but sometimes I see how soft you are towards your teammates. You have a friend with benefit but at the same time you're a prude. You are incredibly astute yet at the same time completely clueless. Really, I can't figure you out at all...But I'm glad we worked things out and are able to be friends." he said gruffly, embarrassment clear in his voice. He didn't look at her and was rubbing the back of his neck.

She doesn't think he realized the kind expression he wore on his face as he described her. It made her entire body warm and flushed, her heart beats were skyrocketing and her skin was buzzing with electricity and she could hear ringing noises in her ears. She wanted so bad for him to say he likes her. She wished with all her heart that he does not have a girlfriend. It wasn't an epiphany because subconsciously she had known all along that she likes Aomine Daiki. But it was the first time she'd let herself admit it.

"Oi, are you even listening to me?" he made a move with his hand but she quickly smacked it away.

"Don't touch me," she said quietly.

"Hah? Are you okay? Stop being a brat."

"I like you. So, don't touch me," she said in an eerily calm voice.

She saw his eyes and mouth widened and she saw him quickly close his mouth.

"I don't think it's going to work out. Us being friends," she said. To be honest, it didn't really hurt, it felt just like how it was before. Slightly melancholic. Before, she could stay friends with him because she wouldn't admit that she likes him. But know that it's out in the open, she can't with good conscience continue hanging out with him. Not when he has a girlfriend.

He didn't say anything but she could hear his silent agreement. They sat there in silence for a long while before she quietly stood up and walked away. He didn't ask her to stay and she didn't expect him to. So she walked away and she didn't turn back.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** So, things get a little slow during the Too vs Kaijo match, so please bear with me. I feel like it's important for me to expound on the match instead of just skimming past it. I hope you guys like the direction the story is taking. Thanks for following, favouriting and reviewing! xxx

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kuroko No Basuke!

* * *

After her confessions to Aomine, she felt considerably lighter, like a burden has been lifted off her. She wasn't overly sad seeing as how in the first place she'd never placed any hope in them working out and she wasn't the type to dwell on things she can't change. In fact, by being truthful to her own feelings, she felt like she could actually move on from it. She thought maybe it's time to let Kise know what has been happening, after all, it was no longer a secret and Aomine had already confessed to his girlfriend.

"Hey, where you?" she said as soon as Kise picked up the phone. She could here commotions in the background.

"I'm at the karaoke place 2 blocks away from Mercato. Everything okay?" he asked, sounding distracted.

She was going to reply when she heard female laughters in the background. "Are you still with the guys or are you with your lady friends?"

He laughed sheepishly,"Err... Kasamatsu-senpai wanted to leave after dinner so..."

"You're hopeless," she chided him gently,"Anyway, come see me tomorrow, I have to tell you something."

"Eh? Is it important? I can come over now if you want," he offered, interest clearly piqued.

"Nah... It can wait. No big deal. Anyway, have fun. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright. See you tomorrow."

She hung up the phone and took her own time making her way home, occupied in her own thoughts.

* * *

"Ahhhhhh! It can't be. And you waited to so long to tell me," Kise whined dramatically.

"Cut the theatrics. Anyway, it's over and done with now," she said dismissively.

"Still can't believe you let Aominecchi kiss you," Kise looked aghast.

"Yeah, yeah. I plead temporary insanity."

"Heh... You'll be seeing him in two days time though," he said slyly.

"So what? I can be civil if he can. Besides, it's not like we parted on bad terms. We just agreed that it would be better not to hang around each other."

Kise's face turned serious,"I'm glad you decided to stay away from him."

Uncomfortable with talking about Aomine any longer, she swiftly changed the subject. "So how was your date last night?"

"Wasn't a date. There were at least 8 of us," he said.

"Yeah, all of them girls except for you and all of them clamoring for your attention. It's a twisted version of a date."

"You're more than welcome to join us the next time and see for yourself that it's nothing as twisted as you seemed to think," he said.

"Thanks but no, thanks. I think I'll pass. You ready for your match day after tomorrow?"

"As ready as I will ever be."

* * *

It was the day of the match and she was running late. She had taken a nap in the afternoon and ended up oversleeping. She decided on taking a cab from the train station to the stadium to save time. She was texting frantically on her phone telling the Coach, Kise and Kasamatsu-senpai that she was running late and depending on traffic she would be there in the next 15 to 30 minutes. As soon as she got out of the cab she started sprinting towards the entrance of the stadium, her arms loaded with refreshments for the team, tapes and bandages in case any of them injure themselves. In her haste, she didn't realized that she'd dropped her phone.

"I'm here, I'm here!" she said, bursting into the locker room. The atmosphere was strained to say the least. Especially in Kasamatsu-senpai's case. Hayakawa was as fired up as usual. She started passing out refreshments to some of them when Kise came in bringing condiments that were given to him by his fans and got a good ass kicking from Kasamatsu-senpai for subtly bragging again. The coach came in, his face clean shavened and he was dressed smartly which was very unusual.

"Coach, why are you trying to compete with the pretty boy coach from Too?" someone said, and almost everyone laughed and tried stifling their laughters. It was a much needed laugh and she could feel the tension in the room dissipated slightly. The coach ignored their jab at him and gave them a brief talk. After a while, Kasamatsu left the locker room to be alone and Kise and her exchanged a worried look.

"Anyone wants legs massage?" she offered.

"You should probably do it for Kise. He's our ace after all," Moriyama-senpai said.

"Sit down and let me massage your legs," she ordered Kise.

"Ah, thanks."

"Yeah, you owe me one."

When it was almost time, they all got ready to leave the locker room. Kise walked up to her and draped his jacket over her shoulders.

"I already have on my own sweater," she said wryly. She passed his sweater to him, and unzipped her own sweater, revealing Kaijo High's jersey underneath it. What was surprising was she was wearing a number 7 jersey. "Like it?" she grinned.

He smiled,"Love it," he said, leaning down to give her a peck on the cheek. "Hold on to my jacket," he said, taking away her sweater and putting his jacket on her. "Shall we go?" he offered his arms to her.

* * *

She fell in steps at the back of the line, walking with coach while the players walked in front entering the court. She could hear the thundering cheers from the spectators and felt her stomach tightened in anticipation. She said a little prayer, praying that nobody gets injured and for it to be a good and fair game. She helped gathered all the players' belonging and put them at the side of the bench as they all left to line up at the court to start the game.

After she'd got everything in order she finally sat on the bench, her eyes on the court. Her eyes immediately met Aomine's, and for an instant they both looked at each other before Aomine broke the stare and turned to say something to Kise. She turned her gaze to Kise, there was something different about him today. He was more serious and focused and there was something predatory in his gaze. Truth be told, she found him even more appealing like that. She heard the whistle blow and the game started with Kaijo getting the ball.

It might have seemed that Aomine had the upper hand but she could tell that Kise was holding his own pretty well. It was evident when he managed to stop Aomine's Formless Shoot. She was sitting on the edge of the seat, gripped by the game. Both teams were not giving an inch either way. The game went on for a while with the flow of the game not changing much until Kaijo High managed to pull ahead at the end of the first quarter. She started passing towels and water bottles to the players as the made their way to the bench.

"Good job so far," she said to Kise as he took a seat next to her.

"Looks like you can handle Aomine," Moriyama said, hopeful.

"Ahh, I don't know about that," Kise said.

She saw from across the court Satsuki talking to Aomine, seemingly agitated. Ana was too engrossed in the game earlier to realize that Lena was there as well. Aomine seemed to be off in his on world as Satsuki rattled on. As if feeling her gaze on him, he looked up catching her eyes again. This time neither of them looked away. She gave a small wave and a tentative smile which he didn't acknowledged. It made her felt like a fool.

"Stop fraternizing with the enemy, Ana-chan," Hayakawa piped up from the side.

She rolled her eyes,"I wasn't fraternizing. You focus on getting those rebounds," she told him and that got him all fired up again. As the second quarter was about to start she gave Kise's hand a squeeze,"Go get them, golden boy."

The second quarter was strenuous to say the least. Aomine managed to even the score pretty quickly and at one point Kasamatsu-senpai was standing pretty close to where she was sitting and she overheard Too's captain, Imayoshi Shoichi sayi that Kise would never be able to beat Aomine because all he could do was copy moves from other players. That really angered her, she wanted so badly to punch the living daylights out of that four eyed bastard for spouting nonsense, until she heard Kasamatsu-senpai defended Kise. Aomine kept getting pass Kise and with almost 30 seconds left to the second quarter, Kaijo's coach called a time out. While the coach was speaking, Kise suddenly interrupted saying he wanted to try something. Ana had no idea what he was talking about and assumed they must have talked about it earlier before she arrived. After watching them play the remaining second quarter she realized that Kise was trying to copy Aomine's move. The quarter ended with Kaijo being 9 points behind.

* * *

Back in the locker room Kise explained that it would take him at least until late third quarters or worse case scenario fourth quarter before he could perfect his moves. With that being said, he excused himself and left the locker room. He was uncharacteristically solemn and it worried her so she made to follow him. She found him outside on the balcony speaking to Kuroko. She turned back inside when she noticed that he looked more upbeat while speaking to Kuroko and decided not to intrude. As she made her way back, she saw Aomine standing alone by the window. He saw her but made no move to acknowledge her so she looked away to walk pass him in silence. When she passed by him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. When he saw what he had done, he quickly released his hand as if he didn't realized that he had pulled her.

"I...like you too," he said with a frown on his face, eyes elsewhere. "But, I love her."

"You don't have to tell me this. I wasn't expecting anything from you." she said, her arms were around her body as if creating barrier between her and him.

He nodded and turned away. And not for the first time, she walked away again.

* * *

The beginning of third quarter the team managed to score points, holding down the fort as Kise perfected his moves. Seeing everyone playing so whole heartedly, and having faith in Kise, she could truly say that she was proud to be a part of the team and there was no other team she'd rather join whether they win or lose. She could tell the moment Kise had decided he has perfected his move and she held her breath in anticipation. She felt her heart beating out of her lungs as he finally broke past Aomine, making his way to the hoops. She was so elated she starting cheering. Words could not have described how proud she was of him. She wanted to tell him that he looked uncharacteristically cool when he's determined. She saw Aomine charging Kise as he made to throw the ball. Even after Aomine charged him, he made the basket. And because it was a foul, they've got a free throw on top of the basket count. She pushed away the slight worry for Aomine since he has gotten four fouls. Knowing him, those four fouls weren't going to hinder his abilities anyway. But she saw how his teammates and coach, Satsuki, Kise and even Lena reacted to Aomine's four fouls. They looked distraught and concerned. _That will definitely irritate him to no end,_ she thought to herself with a laugh.

* * *

It really pissed him off. Have they no confidence in him at all? Had he not proved himself to be the best time and time again? Did he not repeatedly told them that the only one who can beat him, is him? It chafed at his pride the way every single one of them reacted. Except for her. He saw her in the split second after the referee declared it a foul. She laughed. That damn brat _laughed_. And that lack of concern for him endeared her to him more than she will ever know. That lack of concern meant more to him than any of those well meaning concern shown by everyone because to him it meant that she had faith in him. As if she knew that those fouls won't impede his game at all. Thinking about her made his stomach queasy again. It was easier being angry so he refocused his energy at getting pissed at everyone else.

* * *

Kise looked visibly tired during the break before the last quarter of the game. She sat next to him, wiping the sweat off his face.

"Are you alright? We still need you standing till the end even if Aomine gets kicked off court," Moriyama-senpai said.

"I'm fine. You might not believe in me but I've even been running and working out on our off days," Kise said wryly.

"I believe in you. Always have," Moriyama-senpai said without looking at Kise before getting off the bench. Kasamatsu-senpai and Hayakawa both also said something, supporting what Moriyama-senpai said. Ana saw Kise's face changed and filled with even more tenacity to win.

"I believe in you too," she said beaming up at him just as he was about to enter the court.

* * *

In the last quarter, both teams were neck to neck, neither one nor the other budging. With every point that Aomine scored, Kise scored as well. Ana had not wanted to win so badly before in her entire life. It has gotta be one of the most exciting games she'd watch so far. It went on like that for a while until Kise intercepted a pass to Sakurai Ryo and was finally presented with the chance to win the game. He knew if he missed this shot it would all be over. He started running to the Kaijo's side of the court, momentarily blocked by Aomine before breaking pass him to shoot. Aomine jumped to block and at the last minute Kise passed the ball to Kasamatsu-senpai. In that moment she truly thought they were going to win until Aomine, with lightning fast reflexes managed to hit the ball away.

She saw the forlorn and shocked expression on Kise's face as his pass got blocked. Whatever Aomine was saying to him only served to agitate Kise further. She wanted to smack Aomine in the face for that. She has no clue how or why she even liked somebody like him. Thank goodness Kasamatsu-senpai managed to snap Kise out of his funk. Kaijo continued the game, every one of them not giving up untill the very last whistle was blown when Kise was trying to stop a shot by Aomine midair and when Aomine dunked the ball resulting in Kise falling on the floor. She could feel tears brimming in her eyes; a mixture of sadness for losing but proud at the same time. She wanted to run to Kise when she realized he had trouble getting up but Kasamatsu-senpai helped him instead. As soon as the players walked back to the bench she launched herself at Kise hugging him, tears streaming down her face. She pulled the rest of the guys together in a group hug. They might have lost this game but it's far from over.

* * *

Aomine looked over to the other side of the court. Each and everyone of Kaijo High's player looked downcast with unshed tears in their eyes and he saw them collect themselves after the captain gave them a rousing speech. He then saw Ana hugged Kise, tears streaming freely down her face yet laughing at the same time and pulled the rest of the team into a group hug.

He won the game, so _why_ does it feel like he had just lost?


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** This chapter mostly consist of interactions between Ana and Aomine. The progress is still a little slow, I hope you will all bear with me. Enjoy, read, review, favourite and/or follow!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Kuroko No Basuke!

* * *

Aomine was pissed. He could hear Satsuki and Lena catching up to him from behind.

"Daiki! Wait a minute," Lena said, grabbing his arm to stop him.

"What?" he drawled lazily, trying to keep his temper in check.

"You really should stop being so reckless. You could have cost us this game," Satsuki started in on him.

"Could have. But I didn't. As if I would lose," he retorted, he could feel his temper fraying more with every words that came out of Satsuki's mouth.

"But you know how worried me and Lena was," Satsuki continued.

It was the word _worried_ that snapped his control. He whirled around, fully facing both girls. Voice raised, he said,"First of all, have a little faith in me. Have I ever not delivered? Second, your 'concern' really pissed me off. I don't need it." He knew he was being a jerk but he was too angry to stop the torrent of words coming out of his mouth.

Satsuki opened her mouth to talk but Lena gripped her arm, silencing her. If Satsuki were to continue talking they were just going to end up fighting. "Daiki. That's enough," Lena said softly. "We care about you, that's all. It's not that we don't believe in you. We do. But it doesn't stop us from worrying."

He turned his face away. He could feel the anger slowly seeping out of him. He still refused to look at them though. His eyes were trained on the steps leading out of the stadium. He knew their intentions were good but it just rubbed him in the wrong place. He was silent as he kept his eyes on the throng of people making their way out of the stadium. He felt Lena tugging at his shirtsleeves.

"I'm sorry," she said again, voice lowered.

He nodded, giving her hand a slight squeeze when she slipped her hand into his. He turned to Satsuki, "I'm hungry. Let's go."

Satsuki smiled and parroted,"Let's go."

As he was turning to go he saw the entire Kaijo High team walking out. Kise and Ana was trailing behind the rest of the group, her arms were linked with Kise's arms. She was laughing at something Kise was saying. He felt his heart clenched a little at the sight. Brushing it off, he turned to go.

"Ana-san!" Satsuki waved in the direction of Kaijo High.

He saw each and everyone of them turned over to look at them. Most of them looked bewildered. He returned their stare, looking bored. He saw Ana peering over Kise's shoulders curiously before she waved back tentatively.

Satsuki moved towards them and he strained his ears to hear despite his eyes being elsewhere. "We are just going for dinner. Would you guys like to come along?"

"Uhh...," Ana stammered, shooting looks at her teammates.

It could be seen on their faces that they were unwilling until Kise took matters into his own hands and accepted Satsuki's invitation. One by one they began making excuses until it was only Kise and Ana left. He saw Ana shot Moriyama-senpai a dirty look before he left.

"Where are you guys going for dinner?" Ana asked to fill the silence that had descended when her teammates left.

"Oh. We haven't decided yet. Is there anything in particular that you like?" Lena answered.

"We're okay with anything. We'll just go along with wherever you want to go," Kise said.

The entire time Aomine was just keeping quiet. He looked at Satsuki, eyes narrowed in suspicion. _Why_ would she invite Kise and Ana to come along with them out of the blue?

He felt rather than saw Ana staring at him and he turned his head slightly to look at her but as soon as their stares connected, she looked away. Lena tightened her hold on his arms, and he looked down at her to give her a reassuring smile. When Aomine confessed to her that he kissed Ana, he was surprised that she would take it so calmly. Eerily calm, actually. In fact, she didn't say much at all. All Lena asked him was if he'd still love her which he replied affirmatively. Lena has since then brushed the whole thing off, acting like it didn't happen. Sometimes he wished that he'd never met Ana, then the maelstrom of emotions in him would not exist. He sighed to himself silently as the five of them made their way to the restaurant Satsuki had suggested.

* * *

Ana glared at Kise's back. She'd wondered what Kise was thinking, accepting Satsuki's invitation to dinner. He knew that she was trying to avoid Aomine whenever it's possible. Not to mention it was awkward with Lena around. She had no idea how to act now that she knew Lena was aware of what had transpired between her and Aomine. Satsuki was still talking to Kise about one thing or another while the couple walked in front, leading the way which left her trailing at the very end. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that when she looked up she realized she couldn't find anyone. They must have not realized and went ahead of her. She sighed, slowly getting annoyed. She was about to call Kise when she realized she couldn't find her phone. She wanted to scream, she must have dropped it in her rush in the morning. She stood at the sidewalk stewing in her own foul mood. She looked around, noting that nothing looked familiar to her in Tokyo. It's impossible to find them since she doesn't know where they were going to dinner. She made up her mind to take a cab to the train station and leave back to Kanagawa.

"There you are. Try to keep up next time."

She felt the corners of her mouth going down when she heard that voice. She turned to face him, pasting a fake wide smile on her face. "Oh, it's you. Shall we go find the rest?" she said in an unnaturally bright voice.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What's wrong with you? Stop acting like that. It's creepy."

She felt her blood boiled. She dropped her smile and her face went back to looking moody. Crossing her arms, she said, "Fine. If you'll just get us to where everyone is."

"Yeah. Answer your phone next time. It makes things easier for us if you'd used your phone."

"I couldn't find my phone. Must have dropped it this morning," she said defensively. "Lend me your phone. I'm going to try calling it."

He handed her his phone and she started dialing her phone number and she was surprised that it was ringing. She was expecting that by now someone would have stolen her phone.

"Hello?" A male voice answered.

"Oh, hi! Erm... I'm the owner of this phone," she said.

"Yeah, I was wondering when you would call," the other person said.

Ana felt her eyebrows twitching in annoyance at the high handed tone the stranger was using. "Yes, well, could I collect the phone from you then? Where would be convenient for you?".

"I'm having dinner at the Park Hyatt Hotel right now," the stranger said.

_Fancy_, she thought before replying,"Right, I'll see you there then." She passed the phone back to Aomine. "Is Park Hyatt far from where we are?"

Aomine raised an eyebrow,"It's not too far."

"Fine, I'll cab it there. Will you let Kise know and tell him I'll meet him at his place," she sighed.

"I'll come with you," he said in a voice that brook no argument.

"You don't have to."

"I'm not about to let you go meet a random stranger on your own. I'll call Kise and let them know," he said as if he was doing her a huge favour.

"Fine, whatever."

They made their way to the taxi stand, walking side by side. The silence hanging between them was palpable. She refused to be the first to break the silence so she settled on looking at everywhere else except for the navy haired boy towering next to her. It was getting dark and she sighed inwardly thinking about the situation she was in. She felt her stomach growled and reflexively she looked at Aomine to see if he had heard. She saw him looking at her with an amused expression. Well, clearly he'd heard her stomach. She huffed and pointedly look away.

"There's a convenience store just up ahead. Do you want to grab something to eat?"

"No." Her reply was curt. She didn't want to participate in any sort of conversation with him if possible nor receive any of his goodwill. She has grown tired of the entire push and pull that consist of their relationship. He would be nice to her and then he would be cold to her, it was growing tiresome and to be honest, her pride has taken quite a beating.

She heard him sigh before saying,"Ana. Stop being stubborn."

"I don't want to eat. Even if I did it really is none of your concern. The taxi is here anywhere. Let's just go."

* * *

The Park Hyatt Hotel looks intimidating, located in a 52 storey skyscraper. Ana briefly wondered about the stranger that picked up her phone. Must be a rich business man to be able to dine or stay here, she thought to herself. She felt out of place in her jacket and sweat pants amidst all the well dressed guests loitering around the lobby of the hotel. Aomine on the other hand looked like he couldn't care less. She wondered briefly how it felt to be so comfortable in your own skin and to have so much confidence and she envied him that.

She borrowed Aomine's phone again to call her phone. "Hello. It's...errrm, me again. I'm at the lobby now. I'm standing by the-"

"I know where you are," the stranger said before hanging up abruptly.

She stared at the phone, irritated at the stranger's rudeness. "Bastard," she muttered to herself.

Barely 5 minutes had passed when a guy with average height walked up to them. "Daiki."

As soon as Aomine heard the guy, he subtly tried to maneuver Ana to stand behind him. "Akashi. What are you doing here?"

Interest piqued at meeting Aomine's friend, she began taking inventory. He was average in height but there was nothing average about his face. He has spiky reddish, maroon hair and his facial features were rather sharp with large, slightly slanted eyes. What was most captivating was his eyes. His right eyes were red in color but his left was a gold-ish orange. So caught in analyzing him that she'd almost missed what he said.

"I believe your friend wanted this back," he said, turning to look at her as he pulled her phone out of his pocket.

She was surprised that her earlier thoughts of an old business man having her phone was wrong. What was a guy her age doing dining in the Park Hyatt? His stare was pointed, as if judging her as he took in her appearance. Refusing to be cowed by the disdain evident in his eyes, she returned his stare with hostility. "Thanks," she said none too kindly as she reached out to take her phone.

Aomine was still maintaining his weird protective stance in front of her. What exactly was he trying to do, she thought to herself. The guy in front of them hardly look threatening, especially when standing next to Aomine. The only thing that was maybe a little intimidating was the look in his eyes. Cold and calculating. She stepped out from behind Aomine out of irritation.

"I've heard about you from Shintarou," he said smoothly, eyes still trained on her.

"Huh?" she was confused.

"What do you want?" Aomine interjected rudely.

"Just taking an interest in the going ons of my ex-teammates," he said dismissively to Aomine.

"Oh, you're part of the Generation of Miracles," she exclaimed.

"Anyway, we are going now," Aomine interrupted, pulling her against him.

"I hope you're ready for Winter Cup," Akashi said, unruffled by Aomine's rudeness.

"Tch... What do you take me for?" Aomine started walking away, pulling her with him.

She was bewildered at the exchange between the two boys. Aomine was acting all he-man as if the guy in front of her was a rattlesnake. As she was being pulled away she saw one corner of Akashi's lips lifted in amusement.

* * *

Akashi was amused. He'd heard from Shintarou in passing about some sort of love square involving a girl, Ryouta, Daiki and his girlfriend. He thought it was mundane. They should be expanding their energies into basketball not getting tangled up in some silly love drama. But as fate would have it, he was the one that found her phone and a quick look through her phone coupled with his deductive skills, it didn't take him a second to figure out to whom the phone belonged to. After the extremely short conversation on the phone with said girl, he found her interesting like how a scientist discovering a strange animal would. She was incredibly rude and uncouth. And amazingly she didn't seemed at all daunted when she met him. In fact she looked at him with curiousity and hostility, something most people knew better than to do. It was then he figured throwing this girl into the mix might just make their promise and bet a little more interesting.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Ana demanded as they exited the building. He was pulling her towards the taxi stand.

"Don't know what he's up to," Aomine muttered to himself.

She yanked her hands away,"Who is up to what?"

As if only realizing she was there, he looked up. "Nothing for you to worry about."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. So why were you acting like a caveman trying to protect me from a dangerous animal?"

He snorted. "That person back there was the captain of our team. Dangerous animal is a good metaphor."

She made a face, "Really? He seemed harmless if a little rude and up himself. Pretty good looking actually."

"Is that all you ever think about?"

She shrugged and gave a small laugh,"Men. It's my only vice."

"Oh, she jokes."

She stuck her tongue at him petulantly. "Bite me."

"Is that an invitation?" He raised an eyebrow.

Her mood instantly soured. "Stop flirting." She kept forgetting and kept getting drawn back to him.

"I'm sorry." He had his hand behind his neck again, scratching his head.

"It's really unfair that you're doing this," she rambled on.

"Doing what?" he asked genuinely confused.

"This! Everything. You're nice to me and then you're not. Pick one side and stick to it. You ignore me and then you do something nice. I can't keep up with you." She was jabbing her finger into his chest punctuating each of her words.

He grabbed her hands to stop her. "Do you think that I'm enjoying this? Do you think that I'm doing this for my own enjoyment? I'd rather we had not met at all in the first place. I was...I am happy with Lena. Then you have to mess everything up." He was working up quite a temper now. Quite a few taxis had passed them by.

She glared at him. "Then leave me the fuck alone," she said, pulling against the grip he had on her hand.

"Don't you get it? I can't. I can't leave you alone. And it's fucking irritating. You're like a cockroach that won't die no matter how many times you try to kill it," he said, his voice raised.

She felt her heart throbbed at his words and she scrambled to cover up by being sarcastic. "Oh, that's very poetic. Well done. Maybe you should quit basketball and try your hands at poetry."

He exhaled loudly, looking deflated. He pulled her close and bent down to rest his head on her left shoulder. "This sucks."

She could feel the warmth of his breath on the side of her neck and she couldn't stop herself from relishing the feel of him. She took a second, letting herself enjoy the weight of his head on her shoulders and the feel of his hands on her sides before gently pushing him away. "I know. But you've made your choice and you've made the right choice."

He straightened his body and stood at his full height. "Tch...doesn't make it any easier."

She shrugged,"It'll get easier. It _has_ to get easier," she said, before adding in a lighter tone,"Maybe I'll get a boyfriend soon and we can put this behind us."

"If you can even get a boyfriend," he teased.

She punched his arm jokingly. The entire ride back in the cab they were bantering back and forth, enjoying whatever precious little moment that they had to spent with only just the two of them.


End file.
